Falling Into Wonderland
by PenSmith433
Summary: I am a sister, I am traveller through time and I am finding a path amongst the stars. I was lost, and so alone but I am learning things that no one could have ever thought possible. I started off so confused, but a Doctor showed me the universe. And I pray that it will never end.
1. Rose and Alice: Part 1

**I'm just going over this story to tighten the story line up a bit, improve the writing on a general scale. The story hasn't effectively changed. I've just made it more coherent.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

The alarm rang shrilly in my ear.

Another day, another boring day, and hopefully another life very soon. But there was a very slim chance of that happening to me...ever.

Blinking blearily at the ceiling above me, I reluctantly rolled out of bed, grabbing the clothes that were nearest me. My mind was still back in the dreamy world which I had left not moments before, and I wished that I could join it in its endeavour. Instead I turned away, walking into the kitchen and placing the kettle on. I stared out at the concrete road far down below me, the kettle whistling cheerily in my ear. What a wonderfully repetitious life I was currently living. The same people were walking out of their flats, the same cars were passing down below me and was that the same bird on the railings?

There was a smash in the flat below mine, the sound of breaking china on tiled floors. Oh good, Rose was up. I switched off the kettle, pouring myself the boiling water and drinking it carefully. That was a lot better; I was finally starting to wake up a little more now. I took another sip, before looking at the clock that hung on the wall. 7:30am. I was running late.

The mug was quickly thrown into the sink; I would wash it up later. But now I was grabbing my bag and coat, locking the flat securely and running down the flight of stairs to the flat underneath mine, rapping on the door loudly. It opened to show Mum, "Please tell me Rose is ready," I said to her, checking my watch, "We're currently..." I looked at the ticking hands, "Ten minutes late, we should be on the bus by now,"

"You spend your life rushing around and you'll fall over, my girl," Mum informed me, and I sighed, always frustrated at her constant stream of words. Jackie Tyler, my mother. She could talk for England if there was money or a cup of tea involved. I pulled myself back to the real world, "It's like I told Bev the other day, if you relax and slow down then you'll appreciate live a lot more and you won't get as many stress lines as people who rush do,"

"I'm unsure where you are going with this," I informed her, "But we are late," I craned to look over her head, "Oi, Rose, get a move on!" I shouted down the hall "The world doesn't stop for no one and if we're late again then we won't have a job by the end of the day,"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," my older sister finally walked out of the house. Rose Tyler, a nineteen peroxide blonde. Could probably be counted as my best friend if we didn't get into so many arguments, "Aren't those the same clothes you were wearing yesterday?" she looked at me slightly critically.

"No," I answered her calmly, looking at down at myself, before looking at my clock, "And we're late," I waved at Mum, "See you later,"

"See you tonight, Rose," she said to my sister, before nodding at me, "Mary-Anne," we started walking down the stairs, and I quickly checked my phone. No messages, I had hoped that someone would have got back to me about a job application that I sent out a week ago. It seemed like I wasn't going to have much luck once again.

We did manage to catch a bus in time, "See, Mary-Anne, we have a full half an hour to get there," Rose said to me, texting on her phone. I shot her a look, "Sorry," she grinned slightly, "I forgot that you don't like that name,"

"Mary-Anne," I shuddered slightly, "It makes me sound like an inanimate object," I looked at her, "Be glad your name isn't Rosy-Lee or something like that much you like it then. I can tolerate it from Mum because she won't call me anything else,"

"Alice," she smiled as if I was amusing, "You can't do anything about your name," I raised an eyebrow and she pressed the button in order to get off at the next stop, "How long is our shift today?" she smoothly changed the conversation in order to find a middle ground between us two.

"Same as usual," I yawned, bored with the subject, "Just like yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that. Eight to five thirty. And I can tell you what times we're doing tomorrow. Eight to five thirty again," I tapped the seat in front of me before standing up, "Sometimes I get so bored with living this life, the same thing happening over and over," I looked at her, "There has to be something better than this,"

"Don't be so down," she said, hopping off onto the pavement with me quickly following behind. She nudged me playfully and I smiled reluctantly, "Alice," I turned to look at her calmly, "You're only eighteen. Something is going to come up eventually, for both of us," I stuck my hands deep in the pockets of my coat, and she continued, "You've already got a flat. I'm still living with Mum," she laughed slightly.

"You know that you can always walk the tremendous distance of one flight of stairs" I proposed sarcastically, "Come and live with me," she didn't smile at that, "You can't bear to leave her behind," I stated and she looked at me if I was stupid, "I know you won't take me up on my offer," I shrugged, "You're far too loyal to her," I let out a sigh as we walked along the high street, "She likes you,"

"She likes you," she insisted, "She's just a little annoyed that you were so quick to leave as soon as you could. I think it might break her if I moved out permanently," I snorted a little, not believing her words, "I stay over,"

"I effectively live upstairs," I pointed out, "Which was an amazing coincidence really. That doesn't back up your point. You're nineteen, you can't live with her forever, eventually you're going to feel constrained. I feel constrained, and I live out of her flat," we turned down a narrow side road and walked into the large department store where Rose and I worked, "Are you meeting up with Rickey later?"

"Mickey," she said, absentmindedly, putting her bag away in the locker, "His name is Mickey,"

"And my name's Alice, but sometimes we don't get our own way," I pointed out, slipping my phone in my pocket and locking my other possessions away, "I guess I'll see you when the store closes then, if you're going to see Rickey for lunch. Because it'll be awkward if I'm there," I walked towards the door, turning back when I reached it, "Have a good day,"

"Don't get annoyed!" she pointed at me, "Don't start an argument either with the manager or any customers," I placed a bewildered look on my face, "Oh, leave it," I grinned slightly, closing the door behind me, before sighing as I looked at the empty store. Another day.

I had been correct. The day was slow and I found myself wandering off at various times of the day. Boredom was always my worse flaw. I had been bored at school for nearly all the lessons, so therefore I got myself into trouble. It was just a habit of mine. Something that I clearly needed to work on. But not now, when I had to ring up the next customer's items. Maybe one day, someday, something would just appear out of nowhere.

But that was unlikely.

Later that day, Rose and I were just about to leave work. We had grabbed our bags and had just got to the doors before the security guard shoved some money in front of my face, "Hey," he said, and we looked at him, "For Wilson,"

I sighed before taking it, "Thanks," I said sarcastically as we turned back around, "Come on, quicker we give it to him, the quicker we can go," I murmured to Rose as we walked into the elevator, "So close to going home and yet...so far," I pressed the right button, looking at the lights as we descended downwards. I shifted slightly on my feet, shivering, "Is it me or is it getting colder?"

"No, I think it's just you," the elevator clanged when it reached the lowest level of the shop, "We get this over with quickly. No hanging around," I nodded, as the door opened "It's the basement, it's not scary," I looked at her, pulling my coat closer to my body in order to retain some warmth in my limbs. It was freezing down here.

"I'm not scared of the basement," I informed her, my tone slightly cold, "I just don't like it when there's no one in a basement," she looked sceptical, "It's freezing and there is no one else here apart from us and an electrician; I just...don't like it,"

She placed her hands on my shoulders, "Alice, there is nothing here that is going to kill you," I refrained from rolling my eyes at the sound of her patronising tone of voice. I was younger than her, but I wasn't a child. Rose turned away when I didn't say anything and banged on the door of the electrician's office, "Wilson!" she called out loudly, trying to get his attention, "Wilson, I've got the lottery money,"

I sighed, rapping loudly on the door, he probably had his earphones plugged in and couldn't even hear us, "Wilson, it's Alice; I've got the lottery money!" I said loudly. Nothing, "Come on, we want to go home," I thumbed the door, "Wilson, we can't hang about; they're closing the shop," I tried the handle. It was locked. I frowned, looking back at Rose, "I don't think Wilson is in there. The door is locked,"

"Where else would he be?" she queried and I shrugged. There was a sudden clatter behind us, and I whipped around to see whatever was down there; "Hello?" Rose shouted, "Wilson?" there was no reply and I bit my bottom lip in slight anxiety, "This way," she gestured to another door.

I looked at her, "Do we have to?" I asked her, and she grasped my hand, pulling me through the door. I looked around to see mannequins all lined up against each other, "Rose...?" I turned around again when I heard another clatter.

"They aren't real," she reminded me and I nodded, switching on the lights, "Wilson!" I watched as she walked quickly to the other door, trying it, "He can't have gone through here, it's locked,"

Then the other door slammed shut.

"I didn't do anything," I said immediately when she turned to look at me, moving to the door that had just closed, "I think we better call it a day, Rose. Wilson appears to have already gone. We can come back tomorrow," I turned in a slow circle. Something...wasn't right about this situation.

"Don't panic," she told me, trying the door. It was stuck, "Oh, you're kidding me," She moved aside when I tried the handle, getting frustrated with the unmoving metal. I slammed a hand against it and it just stood there, unmoving. There was another clatter from behind us and I turned around sharply, "Is that someone mucking about?" Rose called, and I swallowed heavily. I didn't like the feeling of this, there seemed to be something just out of sight in the corner of my eye.

There was no answer, and we moved into the centre of the room, "Hello? Who is it?" I asked, moving amongst the rows of mannequins. There was a sound of creaking and Rose and I both turned, just in time to see a mannequin move its head, "Oh nice try," I let out a breath that I hadn't realised that I had been holding.

The plastic man started moving towards us, and I frowned, not understanding why they hadn't replied, "Oh you got us," said Rose, painting a smile on her face, even though I knew that she was as anxious as I was at this new development. "Nice," he kept on moving, and now more plastic dummies were walking stiffly towards us, "Right, we've got the joke," It was only then that I noticed that we were moving backwards, getting boxed in by the plastic people, "Whose idea was this?"

"Is it Derek?" I called, knowing that I was grasping desperately at straws now. Derek, a seventeen year old boy that worked on the tills at the weekend, often liked playing practical jokes on other assistants. But this was going too far than what he usually did, "Is it? Derek, is this you?" I was getting agitated, "Somebody answer me, please!"

"Alice," Rose murmured, we were pressed against a wall, the mannequins still walking towards us, "I don't think it was a good idea to come down here," I bit back the words that rose to my mouth, instead watching as the dummies slowly raised their hands, looming down on us.

A hand suddenly grabbed mine, and I briefly caught a glimpse of a man in a leather jacket before he pulled me in his direction, "Run," the words echoed in my ears and I grabbed Rose's hand, running as fast as I could after him.

I turned around, seeing that the plastic people were running after us. I forcibly pushed myself to continue running down the long corridor, until we burst through a set of double doors and into a much smaller room.

The man roughly pushed Rose and I into an elevator, I groaned slightly as I leant against the metal wall. The doors closed swiftly and a hand suddenly came through the closing doors. The man grabbed the hand, ripping it clean off. He threw it to Rose, "You pulled his arm off," after all that had happened that was the only thing that I could think of asking him.

"Yep," he said, "Plastic," I swallowed slightly, placing a hand to my forehead and feeling it pounding slightly.

"Clever," Rose retorted, "Nice trick. Who were they then? Students, is this a student thing, or what?" I studied the man carefully, seeing him properly for the first time. He was rather tall, and wearing a leather jacket with a jumper underneath. I looked up at the ceiling, a million and one questions racing through my mind, all which seemed so inconsequential at this particular point in time.

"Why would they be students?" the man asked her, and I noticed that he had a very broad Northern accent, most likely from Manchester. What was he doing in a basement of a department store in London?

Rose swallowed, shaking her head slightly, "I don't know," she sounded slightly faint.

This time he turned completely around to look at her. Rose managed to hold his gaze before blinking rapidly, "You said it, why students?" he sounded generally interested in her answer, as if the idea had never really occurred to him before. But at the same time, from the tone of voice that he used to ask the question that indicated that he personally thought the idea was an idiotic one, and he was just playing along with it.

I sighed, and he looked at me, "I think what she means is that because there are that many people out there, all of them running around, dressing up in stupid outfits..." I smiled slightly hesitantly, "Being idiotic and being silly. The logical conclusion would be to assume that they've got to be students," it sounded stupid even in my head, but I wanted to clarify what Rose had meant.

He smiled, an easy smile that made everything seem a little bit less terrifying, "That makes sense, well done," he said, turning back around to face the doors of the elevator, which I had noticed was rising higher and higher.

"Thanks," Rose said,

"They aren't students, are they?" I said softly and he looked at me, properly this time. He had the kind of stare that seemed to go straight through you, it was like he could see the whole you, every single thing that you had done in your life, and I had to break it after a few seconds. It felt slightly uncomfortable, "It doesn't matter, whoever they are," I continued, fiddling with the edge of my jacket, "Wilson will find whoever they are and call the police,"

"Who's Wilson?" he asked, and I knew by his refusal to answer my question, that the mannequins hadn't been students dressing up.

"Chief electrician," said Rose, shrugging.

"Wilson's dead," he stated as we got out of the elevator onto the top floor. I stared at him. He didn't look like a person that would make fun of someone's death, but the way in which he had said it so...impersonally and cold...maybe I had gotten the wrong idea of him. He didn't seem to me as someone who was flippant.

Rose stalked after him, and I had to pull myself together before setting back after them. I had known Wilson, we weren't close friends – I didn't find blessed with many close friends- but we had talked at the pub when there was a work party. Death was odd when someone that you knew died. And I knew that I'd wake up tomorrow morning and still expect to see Wilson at work, which wouldn't be happening. "That's just not funny, that's sick," Rose practically spat at him.

He ignored her, and pulled out a long metal tube from his coat pocket. "Hold on," he said to us, placing it up against the elevator panel, "Mind your eyes," there was a loud buzzing noise, and the end of the tube glowed blue. The next second, the panel exploded in a shower of sparks. I stared at the instrument, realising that it was a...screwdriver type object.

Rose fumed next to me, clearly having enough of the man not answering her questions, "I've had enough of this now," she finally snapped at him and I looked at her worriedly. She seemed close to being on edge, "Who are you then? Who's that lot down there?" he once again ignored her shower of question, "I said who are they?"

I quickly slipped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks, "Excuse me," I said clearly, "My sister's talking to you. Can you please answer her questions," I looked at the screwdriver again, "And can you stop waving your screwdriver around?"

He stopped slightly at that, frowning at me, "How did you know it was a screwdriver?" he asked,

I felt slightly confused at the rapid change of conversation, "I don't know, can you ever answer a simple question?" I returned and he grinned a little, "Start from the beginning...please," he slipped past me and turned into another corridor.

"They're plastic…living plastic creatures," he explained, and I quickened my pace in order to keep up with his large strides. Rose was gripping my hand tightly and I squeezed it. My anxiety had all but had gone, "They're being controlled by a relay device on the roof. Which would be a great big problem if I didn't have this," he held up a machine that seemed to be ticking, "So I'm going to go upstairs and blow it up and I might well die in the process," he opened a set of two double doors, pushing us out and into the main street, "But don't worry about me- no, go home and have your lovely beans on toast," he had gone back to being patronising again.

I looked at Rose, "I think we'd better get out of here," I murmured softly and she nodded.

The man turned to us once again, "Don't tell anyone about this, because if you do, you'll get them killed," he informed us. His tone once again seemed so...disregarding of life, but he sounded so...enthused about the prospect of dying that I didn't argue with him. It struck me that he was completely sane. And I didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing.

He disappeared from sight and both of us turned away, "What was that all about?" Rose asked me, and for once I didn't have anything to say to her. I saw that Rose was still holding the arm, gripping onto it as hard as she was holding my hand.

The door banged open against and the man stepped out. We both looked at him, and he seemed slightly abashed at something, "I'm the Doctor, by the way," he introduced himself, "What are your names?"

"Rose," Rose said,

I opened my mouth, preparing to give him my nickname when I said, "Mary-Anne," I blinked in surprise at that and even Rose looked at me as if I had grown a second head. I didn't really understand it myself. I never told anyone my name. I had always hated that name, and never used it whenever possible.

"Nice to meet you Mary-Anne, Rose," he held up the bomb again, "Run for your life!" he disappeared again, and I pulled Rose's arm, wanting to be away from the shop and all it's rather odd inhabitants. If that man...the _Doctor _had a bomb, then I didn't want Rose and I to be near it when it eventually blew up. By the man's urgency, I assumed that would be happening sooner rather than later.

Walking along the street was a bizarre experience. Everything seemed to be weirdly detached from everything else. It was a surreal feeling and I couldn't help but feel out of touch with the rest of the world. Rose seemed to be in the same state that I was in; neither of us looked as we ran across the road, and stopped, looking at each other. I finally drummed up the courage to say something; "I don't know what…" but the end of my sentence was lost in the sound of a loud explosion. It appeared that I was now permanently out of a job. "Let's get out of here," I suggested.

"I think that would be a very sensible idea," Rose answered, turning to walk down the street towards the estate. I stopped suddenly, feeling a prickling on the nape of my neck. Turning around, I saw a large blue police box, sitting tucked away in an alley, "What?" Rose seemed impatiently to get home.

I blinked, and then saw nothing. I frowned, shaking my head, where I could feel a headache growing, "Nothing," I replied, taking her hand once again, "It doesn't matter," we walked slowly back home in silence, neither of us knowing quite what to say to each other, "The bombing will be all over the news, but I don't think it's wise to tell Mum about...him," I eventually said,

"Yeah," she said, "That's a good idea. Not..." she swiped a hand through her hair, "That anyone would believe us if we did go to the police,"

I nodded at her reasoning. That would be the most likely outcome if we told anyone. I paused, not sure how to say something, "Can you stay with me tonight?" I eventually blurted out. My older sister turned to look at me, "I don't really want to be alone...just for tonight," she nodded, "Thank you," I looked back, seeing the burning building behind me. I bit my lip, placing it behind me and walking back home.


	2. Rose and Alice: Part 2

**So this is an amalgamation of the original chapters 2&3. Hopefully a lot better.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

We managed to make our way past Mum's without having to be surprised by her and a million questions, "Do you want a cup of tea?" I asked her and she nodded. I made my way into the kitchen, filling the kettle up with water and putting it onto boil, "If anyone asks," I called through into the living room where I could see her sitting on the sofa, "We left the shop at the usually time, we didn't see anything and we didn't hear anything," she didn't say anything and I brought the cup through once it had been made, "Rose?"

"Yeah," she shook her head, "Yeah that sounds about right. You heard what he said..." she took a sip of the tea, "If we tell anyone anything then they'll die. I don't know whether he was being serious or whether he was fooling around,"

"I don't know," I sat on the armchair, looking at her carefully, "He was holding a bomb, and the store did explode," I rubbed my eyes, suddenly feeling an overwhelming sense of exhaustion passing over me, "And I don't think the plastic mannequins were people dressed up," I heard her sigh, and I opened my laptop, logging on the news. Word had spread around quickly; the explosion was already up on the news. It had only happened half an hour ago, "The news has already caught wind of it,"

"What do they say?" Rose inquired leaning back against the cushions.

I flicked through the short paragraph, "Says that there's been an explosion in Central London. The police are cordoning off the scene and the whole of Central London in under lockdown," I frowned when I read the next sentence, "They've found a body in the wreckage," I looked up over the screen, "I think that must be Wilson, there doesn't seem to be any other casualties, just mass panic," there was a knock on the door, "Three guesses who," I shut the lid of the laptop, before standing up and walking towards the door.

When I opened the door, Mum was already on the voice, gabbling down to the person on the other end of the line, "I know it's on the telly," she was saying. I had opened the door on her mid-conversation, "It's everywhere. They're lucky to be alive," I couldn't help but roll my eyes in frustration. Mum hadn't even seen us thirty seconds. Rose looked at me pointedly and I walked into the kitchen, still hearing her talk, "It's aged them, skin like an old Bible. You would think that I was their daughters," she placed the phone down; "You're alive!" she looked at Rose as if she was a miracle.

"Yeah," Rose smiled slightly, "We were out of the store before it blew up. We're not hurt or anything," the lie easily slipped out of her. Mum still hadn't seemed to have noticed that I was there. "Don't worry," Rose continued, "We're fine," she nodded before the phone rang and she picked it up, talking at a hundred miles an hour, "At least that isn't your phone bill that you have to pay for,"

"I'm aware of that," there was another knock on the door and I went over to open it, "Ricky!" I looked at my sister's boyfriend. Mickey Smith and I had never exactly gotten along smoothly. He deliberately irritated me and I was aware that I annoyed him. The main reason for this, I suppose, was that due to Rose and my father dying at a young age, there had to be someone who didn't like Rose's boyfriends. And I hated to admit this to anyone but I was slightly jealous of how much time she spent with him.

He now scowled at me "It's Mickey," he said irritably, moving past me and spotting Rose on the sofa, instantly playing the protective boyfriend, "I've been phoning your mobile. You could have been dead; it's on the news and everything. I can't believe the just went up," he hugged her tightly, and she laughed, looking slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

I sat down on the armchair again, opening up my computer, watching the news again, not really paying attention to the conversation that they were having together. It was really none of my business what they did, and to all intents and purposes, I didn't really want to know, "All right, all right," Rose had a smile in her voice as Mickey fawned over her, "I'm fine, don't worry about it,"

He sat next to her on the sofa, clearly wanting as much information as he could get, "But what happened?" he asked. I looked up sharply, my hands stilling on the computer keyboard, waiting for Rose's response. Lying to Mum was one thing, which was wanting to protect her as much as deterring many questions. But Mickey was Rose's boyfriend, they shared everything together. It was a different story when it came to lying to Mickey. And I waited to see what she would do.

My sister looked at me briefly, before saying "I don't know," I allowed a small smile to pass over my face. I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit pleased that she wasn't telling Mickey about what had happened. In a day, my life had turned from monotonous to something...new. I didn't know whether it had been a good or bad thing, but a tiny hope indicated that I wasn't willing to let it die quite yet.

Mickey pressed further, always wanting to know as much as possible and not willing to let the subject rest, "What was it though, what caused it?" he insisted and I winced again, feeling the headache I was already sporting grow more painful.

"We weren't in the shop, we were outside, we didn't see anything," Rose answered him, shrugging lightly. She met my eyes once again and I knew that she wasn't going to tell him anything. She drunk more from her mug, picking up a newspaper from several days ago, "You need to clean your flat,"

I opened my mouth to reply when Mum came in from the kitchen, "It's Debbie on the end," she informed Rose and I, "She knows a man on the 'Mirror," I shrugged, not interested in what she had to say, "Five hundred quid for an interview," she looked excited, and I looked up.

"Oh that's brilliant," I replied, holding my hand out, "Give it here," she handed it to me, and I pressed the off button, slamming the phone down on the table, "We're not going to give any interviews to any people from the press,"

She looked affronted, folding her arms tightly, "Well you've got to find some way of making money," she said brusquely, "Your job is kaput, and you'll need to find some way of making the rent for this place,"

"I can get a job," I said to her, bristling slightly with the unspoken insult. Mum and I never quite saw eye to eye on any matters. She was happy with her world, where I wanted...so much more. And unlike Rose, I was quite happy about verbalising them to our mother. I continued on, "And I'm keeping this flat. If you have a problem with Rose staying in your flat then Rose can stay here," I smiled slightly coldly, "Like I have continually offered to her,"

She looked indignant at that prospect, as if I had caused her some embarrassment, "I'm not bailing her out," she informed me slightly stiffly. The phone started ringing and she picked it up, her tone of voice changing immediately, "Bev, they're alive," she walked off again, "I've told them, sue for compensation, they were within seconds of death!" she went back into the kitchen, and I shot Rose a look of irritation at her actions. She looked pointedly at me and I nodded in defeat.

When Mum was out of sight, Mickey looked at Rose, and eying the mug in her hand with slight disgust, "What you're drinking tea?" he asked her, taking it off her, and trying to pull her up by the arm, "Nah, that's no good, that's no good. You're in shock, you need something stronger," I returned to looking at the computer, knowing that he wanted to just go down the pub.

Rose looked more than reluctant to go with Mickey, "Nah, I'm all right," she said to him, staying where she was on the sofa, acting as a dead weight.

"Nah, come on, you deserve a proper drink," Mickey still couldn't see that she didn't really want to leave my flat, "We're going down the pub, you and me, my treat-how about it?" he asked her, pulling at her arm again. He looked at her in that faintly revolting puppy dog way, that instantly made me feel slightly nauseous. I didn't care what they did together, but I didn't particularly appreciate it if they were going to do anything in my flat.

"Is there a match on?" she asked him and I chuckled. Rose could always see right through anything and in her boyfriend's case, she could see what he was up to most of the time. She could also see through many of my attempts to lie to her as well.

He looked ruffled, "No, no," he bluffed. One of the things that Mickey Smith wasn't was a good liar, and it clearly showed as he sat back down next to her. "I'm just thinking about you, babe,"

She nodded, sarcastically, "There's a match on, ain't there?" she said,

"Yes, there is," I said, typing rapidly into my laptop, "It's Chelsea vs. Arsenal," I deliberately kept my eyes on my computer, sensing that both of them were now looking at me, "He wants to go down there to watch a football match," I bit my lip, "If you did go down there then I am not stopping you,"

Mickey glared at me slightly, "Thanks Mary-Anne," he said to me, not happy with my ousting his efforts of going down the pub to see a game of football. I merely smiled sweetly in his direction. He turned to look pleadingly at Rose, knowing that she would easily crumble, "That's not the point, we could catch the last five minutes," he smiled winningly at her,

"Go on then," Rose said to him, "I'm fine, really. Go, and get rid of that," she pointed at the plastic hand

Mickey smiled at Rose, kissing her on the lips quickly, before pushing her back onto the sofa, "Please don't do that in front of me," I muttered, "There is a younger and more impressionable teenager in this room," they ignored me and I aimed a kick at Rose who nearly tripped up Mickey trying to dodge me.

Mickey picked up the arm, and waved it in a childish, "Bye," he waved it, and then pretended to choke himself. I opened the front door, waiting for him to get out of my flat, "I'm leaving, I'm leaving," he grumbled to me and I cocked my head, pretending not to hear him, "See you later, babe," he nodded to Rose.

"Bye," said Rose smiling at him as he walked out of the flat.

I slammed the door in his face, "Bye," I smiled slightly to myself, before walking back in the living room, and resting on the doorframe, looking at my mother who was still talking on the phone to Bev, "Come on, Mum!" I was getting tired after everything that had happened that day.

"Yeah?" she looked at me, stopping mid flow,

I looked at Rose, "I'm going to stay here tonight, Mum," she said to her and Mum immediately looked prepared to argue with her, "I have a key, don't worry, I have a key," she didn't look convinced, "Come on, Mum, we need to get over the shock of today," she nodded reluctantly, and I hid a smile behind my hand as she walked out of my flat, returning to her conversation. Rose crossed her legs on the sofa looking at me. I took a seat opposite her, mirroring her position, "Who do you think he was?" she asked me, "That man?"

I shook my head, "I don't know," I sighed, running a hand through my hair, "He could have been anyone, or maybe someone connected with the military. He did say that his name was the Doctor," I bit my lip, looking at her, "He's different from the rest of us. I don't know...I thought he was..." I looked down at my hands, "There's something about him,"

"A feeling?" she inquired, and I didn't say anything, "Or just your instincts telling you that?"

"Both," I said, standing up, "He's not from London, that much is obvious," I stretched, before closing my eyes, "It's getting dark, and I'm tired," I walked into my bedroom, changing quickly. I looked at my desk, biting my lip. I crouched down, opening a drawer and pulled out a blue empty book. I had kept this blank book for years, never using it. It seemed a good time as any to start using it. I opened it, bending the stiff spine, and writing down what had happened that day, including everything with the man called the Doctor. I paused, and then for some reason placed: Day One at the top of the page. I frowned, falling asleep.

The alarm rang shrilly in my ear.

I groaned slightly to myself, stretching and rolling out from underneath the warm covers on the bed, placing my hand to my head. I had the strangest dream. "There's no point getting up," Rose called from the kitchen, "It's not like we have a job," I immediately slumped back, closing my eyes again, and allowed myself to sleep again.

Half an hour later and I walked into the living room, rubbing my eyes, stopping suddenly as I saw who was at my table, drinking a cup of tea and talking rapidly.

"You let Mum in?" I turned to look at Rose, who had just come in from the kitchen, "Play nice," I smiled tightly, accepting the cup of tea, and sitting down at the table, "She's lost her key," she added and I pretended to look surprised, "I don't think you'll mind,"

"Of course not," I remarked, and looked pointedly at me, "As you wish, naturally," I looked at Mum, "You're not on the phone then?"

"No," Mum said,

"You're in your dressing gown," I said, stupidly, seeing that she was indeed wearing her pink silk bathrobe. As long as no one had seen her walking up the flight of stairs to my flat in her dressing gown then it didn't really matter to me, just...quite unnerving really, "Don't tell me, she's going on about getting another job,"

"You both have to earn something," Mum demanded, and I bit into an apple from the bowl in front of me. I swallowed it heavily, grimacing at the sugary taste of the fruit, and placing it back on the table, resolving not to touch it again, "You both have to eat, there's Finch's, they've always got jobs,"

"Oh great," Rose muttered, taking the other apple, "The butchers," I bit my lip, trying not to laugh.

Mum glared at us, "Well, it might do you good," she said, "That shop's given you airs and graces, and I'm not joking it about compensation," she stood up, "You've both had genuine shock and trauma," she walked towards the door, "Arianna got two thousand quid off the council just because the old man behind the desk said she looked Greek," I frowned in confusion, "I know she is Greek but that's not the point, it was a valid claim. I'm going to get dressed," she walked out the front door, slamming it. I calmly drank the tea, a slightly satisfied look passing over my face.

"Don't look so pleased," Rose warned me, and I glanced at her briefly, "She's right you know, we do need to get a job because you need to pay your bills, and get some decent food in this house," she threw the finished apple core in the bin, "I had to buy some fruit, there was nothing but milk in the fridge,"

"So that's where the apples came from," I muttered, before raising my voice, "Apparently there's always Finch's," she snorted and I placed my cup of tea down on the coaster, "I'm going to finish off getting ready. Then we can go job hunting to your heart's delight," I walked back into my room, picking up the abandoned mascara bottle by the mirror.

After a minute, Rose poked her head around the door, "You're such a liar," she said to me, irritated, "I told you to nail that cat flap down; you're going to get strays,"

I placed down the bottle, staring at her. She knew that I had nailed the wretched thing nearly a month ago, "I did it weeks ago," I answered, nonplussed, before shrugging and returning to look in the mirror, "I don't like cats, why would I invite them into the house?"

"You thought about nailing it down," she retorted disappearing from the doorway. I sighed, staring at my pale face in the mirror, before following her, seeing her bent over the cat flap. I crouched down next to her, picking up the nails that were now scattered on the floor.

I passed one to her, "I told you," I hissed, and then suddenly at-flap moved. We both instinctively moved backwards, before I ventured closer, flicking the cat-flap open. I twisted my head, opening it fully and staring when the Doctor's face filled the hole there. I jumped back, opening the door, and almost hitting Rose in the face as she was standing up.

I stared at him. He was wearing exactly the same clothes as yesterday and wore a confused look on his face when he saw Rose and I. Clearly he hadn't been expecting us to be behind the door, just as we hadn't been expecting him to be taking nails out in my door, "What are you doing here?" he asked,

I grew even more confused, "This is my flat," I replied, "I live here,"

He looked from side to side, as if he had got the wrong door, and was completely innocent in this, "Well what do you do that for?" he inquired,

Looking at him like he was completely insane, I shrugged, "I just do," I told him, "And we're," I pointed between Rose and I, "Only here because someone blew up our job," I folded my arms, "I don't suppose you want to explain the reason for that again?"

He took out his screwdriver again, whirring it lightly, and once again ignoring my questions, "I must have the wrong signal, you're not plastic are you?" he tapped my head hard, and I reared back not appreciating the action, "No, bonehead," my mouth dropped at the insult, but it didn't seem to register with him at all. He held up a hand in farewell, "Bye then," He appeared to be ready to move on, and I laughed sarcastically, pulling him inside the front door, "Mind the coat,"

"I'll try not to damage anything," I closed the door, walking into the living room and moving the newspapers off the sofa, "Don't mind the wires," I waved a hand at the wires that were attached around the room, "I haven't had time to sort it out yet," I mused slightly before looking at him. "Do you want a coffee?"

"Might as well thanks," he said, gazing at the room as if he had never seen a living room before, "Just milk,"

I hesitated slightly, "Would that be milk or coffee and milk?"

He looked back at me, surprise showing in his eyes. Once again for the second time that day, the feeling that he was very different from the rest of us stole over me, "You're smart, just milk," he replied and I nodded to myself as Rose and I went into the kitchen. I watched him carefully as Rose made the tea and he looked around the living room, picking up different objects and commenting on them. He didn't act like socially normal person, and I would have gone as far as to say that he tried to be as different as he could, yet all the while trying to blend in with everyone.

"Do you have a cat?" the man asked me, and I turned to the coffee that Rose had just finished with, picking the hot mugs up.

"No," I shook my head, "I don't like cats, I don't like most pet animals but I sometimes get strays off the estate," We both walked into the room, and stopped at the sight of him "I thought Mickey chucked that out," he was pretending for the plastic hand to choke him,

"You're all the same," Rose sat down, grumbling slightly with the lack of any information, "Give a man a plastic hand," I placed the coffee mug on the table, watching him carefully. He didn't look like he was playing around, And anyway we don't even know your name, Doctor what was it?" the plastic arm suddenly flew off him, twisting and flexing in the air before slamming into Rose's face.

"What on earth?" I asked rushing to try and get it off her. I was pulling at the hand as hard as I could but it seemed far too strong. She stumbled forward and I quickly pushed her onto the sofa, the Doctor and I both trying to get it off her. The arm appeared to have a life of its own, "You are not going to smash my table, Rose," I glared at the man, who suddenly seemed to not be doing a lot, "Use your screwdriver thing!" Rose was thrashing around, and it looked like she was trying to gasp for some air.

He stared at me, pulling out the small silver tube, "How did you know it was a screwdriver?" he asked me and I threw him a glare. It wasn't exactly a question that was particularly suitable for this situation.

"It's blue!" I shouted at him, waving my hands, "I don't know, it makes a buzzing noise?" I looked at Rose, "My sister!" he looked at her before quickly buzzing his screwdriver at the hand. With a slow creak of plastic, it finally stopped moving and Rose gasped for air, "Thank you," I said genuinely.

He grinned widely, "There now," he looked at the pale plastic as if he had just achieved a sense of triumph, "Stopped it," he chucked it at Rose and she breathed in, recoiling backwards a little, "Armless," he smiled at his own joke.

My sister stared at him as if he was insane, "You think?" she said rhetorically, before hitting him as hard as she could with it.

He winced, rubbing the place where she had hit him. He stood up, looking at both at us, holding the arm, "See you then," he said suddenly, walking out of the door.

I stared after him. He really was the most impossible man.


	3. Rose and Alice: Part 3

**This is a mixture of the original chapters. Just longer and more coherently written.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

I stared silently after him, "Oh no you don't," I muttered, grabbing my coat and running after him, Rose following me, "Hold on, you can't go walking off as if nothing has happened," I informed him, and he grinned widely, "Hey!"

"Yes I can go walking off," he answered cheerily, "Here I am. This is me walking off," he answered cheerily, waving the hand around, "See you!" he was quite a fast walker, both Rose and I were running to keep up with his quick pace. Frustrated, I caught up with him as he exited the estate building. Why wouldn't he just explain it to us? Was it really that difficult to tell someone what he was doing?

Rose managed to fall into line next to us, "But that arm was moving, it tried to kill me," she insisted, "It was moving on its own. Like it was alive," he was ignoring her again, "It was trying to kill me," she pressed, wanting the same information as I did.

The Doctor snorted slightly, "Ten out of ten for observation," he replied, still walking as fast as he can. I looked at the expression of his face. It seemed to be a mix of amusement, interest and anxiety. It was a strange combination of things to be feelings. All seemed to be the complete opposite from one another. He was a complete mess of contradictions and inconsistencies. And I couldn't help but follow him.

"You can't just walk away," I told him, walking quickly, feeling that by the end of this walk, I would end up with a stitch and even more questions than I had currently, "You have to explain yourself, you can't leave us with all these questions,"

"You've got to tell us what's going on," Rose added, backing me up.

The Doctor didn't look troubled by both of us pelted him with questions and demands of explanations, "No, I don't," he said, waving us both of easily. I looked up at the clear blue sky, inwardly pondering whether it was worth following him. He didn't seem like the type of person that would give anything away if he didn't have a reason for doing so. But I so desperately wanted answers.

"Ok then," she shrugged, seemingly unconcerned with him brushing us off at every single question that we were asking of him, "We'll go to the police," I looked warningly at her. I knew that she wouldn't do that. We had both agreed last night that no one would have believed the story. Rose carried on, "We'll tell everyone, you said if we did that we'd get people killed, so, your choice," she smiled, appearing as if she knew what she had been talking about, "Tell us or we'll start talking,"

"Is that supposed to sound tough?" he asked, looking at her carefully as if he was trying to figure her out.

"Yes, she is trying to sound tough," I answered and he turned to look at me on the other side of him, "But we still want to know the answer. We can and will go to the police if you don't tell us anything," I searched his face intently, "Someone died. Their family deserves to be told how exactly they died. It's only fair,"

He paused for a bit before smiling slightly, "Nice try, doesn't work," he told me, striding across the tarmac. I smiled tightly, growing steadily more irritated with him dodging the questions that we were throwing to him.

I sighed, "Who are you?" I asked him.

He sighed, rubbing the side of his head, "I told you- The Doctor," he explained. Once again, that didn't answer her question. I looked again at the sky, surprised that it was such a clear day. Simple, easy to understand...unlike the man that we were walking next to. Was it even worth it? He didn't seem like he was going to crack easily to our interrogation. Was there any point in just trying to persist? We could go home, put on the TV and talk about inconsequential matters. Not this.

"We got that bit," Rose drew my attention back to the present with her question. No, we wouldn't let this go easily. It was the prospect of something different. And I wasn't willing to let the opportunity slip through my fingers, "But Doctor what? What's your name?"

"Just the Doctor," he replied happily.

"The Doctor. Is that it?" I asked, sceptically, not completely believing him, "No other name, no first name, no last name?" we turned out of the estate, walking along a main road. We were disconnected with the world, normal life lay just feet away from us, but we had no intention of going there. It was a strange and wondrous possibility, "Just the Doctor,"

"Hello," he waved the arm at me, and I laughed, placing a hand to my mouth in silent mirth.

"Is that supposed to sound impressive?" I swallowed my smile, looking at him honestly.

"Sort of," he said, and I looked at him, as he once again evaded the questions. The sudden burst of happiness inside me, wilted. He never lied completely but he also never told us the truth. He really was the most impossible man that I had met. And I suspected that he would be the only impossible man that I would ever meet in the future. If he stayed around long enough.

I walked a bit faster, walking backwards to look at him properly, "Come on then," I smiled, shrugging, "You can tell us. We've seen enough to deserve a proper explanation. You can't leave us with more half-answers and questions than we originally had," I eyed his clothes; "You're not the police, are you?"

He laughed, "No," he scoffed, and I felt slightly abashed. It had only been a thought, I hadn't been completely serious in asking him, "I was just passing through," he finally admitted, "I'm a long way from home," I stopped suddenly, on the pavement. Somehow that resonated within me. No wonder he seemed like he was a mix of loneliness and defiance. I gathered my thoughts together and willed myself visibly to catch up with him and my sister.

Rose didn't seem to be having the same thought as I had been, "But what have we done wrong?" she asked, seriously, "How come those plastic things keep coming after us?"

"Oh," he raised his hands in mock surprise, his tone mocking, "Suddenly the entire world revolves around you two. You both were just an accident. You just got in the way that's all," it wasn't said in malice, just as an honest brutal statement. There seemed to be no way of getting around that. It was the cold truth.

"It tried to kill me!" Rose protested, missing the point entirely, "In the flat just now; it was trying to kill me. And then in the shop, those plastic dummies...they were going to kill us,"

"It was after me, not you!" his tone was incredulous, as if he thought it was the only logical explanation of why everything had happened in my flat, "Last night, in the shop. I was there. You both blundered in, almost ruined the whole thing. This morning, I was tracking it down," he held up the arm. It hadn't moved since the Doctor had buzzed it with his screwdriver, "It was tracking me down. The only reason it fixed on you two was because you met me,"

I smiled, digging my hands into my pockets, and cocking my head to look at him directly, "So the whole world revolves around you, then?" I stated bluntly, "The Doctor," somehow I could see that sort of working. Life never really stopped when he turned up.

"Sort of, yeah," he said, repeating his words from earlier. He seemed to be finally enjoying this conversation; he was smiling and slowing down, walking along the road as if he had all the time in the world. The tenseness of the situation had gone from his frame.

I laughed, fascinated and confused and puzzled in everything that came out of his mouth, "Oh my God, you are absolutely full of it," I told him,

"Sort of, yeah,"

Rose cleared her throat, wanting more information, "But all this plastic stuff," she tilted her head slightly, "Who else knows about it?"

"No one," he suddenly turned morose at that fact.

"What, you're on your own?" Rose asked, a frowning passing across her face, "There's no one else that knows about those plastic people," she looked behind her for a second, "No one that can help?"

He shrugged, "Well, who else is there. I mean, you lot- all you do is eat chips, go to bed and watch telly," he had summarised my whole life in a matter of second, and I was slightly irritated with him for being able to strip everything away from me, reducing most of our lives to a mere list of actions, "None of you realised that while you do that, underneath you, all the time, there's a war going on!"

I grabbed the plastic arm, and he looked at me, confusion showing through him, "All right," I answered, "As you wish. You think we can't understand this," I smiled softly, "Explain it to us then. Start from the beginning and don't stop. You said that it was living plastic, but there isn't anything that I can think of that could be able to animate plastic. Truth be told, I don't think I even completely believe you when you say it is plastic," I bit my bottom life, "But if it is true, then how did you kill it?" I held up the arm.

"The thing controlling it projects life into the arm," he informed us, "All I did was cut off the signal- dead," it all sounded simple

"So that's radio control?" Rose asked, the frown still etched on her face permanently.

"Thought control," the Doctor corrected her.

Now I was the one that frowned, "But there's no such thing," I protested to him, needing to think thinks through, "How can it be thought control when you can't physically do it," he looked at me, carefully, "It's not human is it? Those things in the basement of the shop weren't human. The hand wasn't human. None of it's human," I looked down at the plastic arm, that I was still holding. The urge to throw it away had never been greater, "Am I right?"

"You catch on fast," that was the only thing that he said. We all stopped on the edge of the pavement and he studied both of us carefully. If I looked like what Rose looked like, a troubling frown on her face and a slightly waxy sheen on her face then I thought we were taking this incredibly well, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," we both said at the same time, before cracking a slight grin. We all continued walking, "So who's controlling it?" Rose eventually piped up.

"Long story,"

We rounded the park bench and I looked up at the sky, "But what's it all for?" I asked him, rubbing my eyes slightly, "I mean, shop window dummies," I laughed slightly, and he grinned to him, "What is it all about?" I smiled, looking at him, "Is someone trying to take over Britain's shops?"

"No," he replied, and we all laughed. For once we were all on the same page, "It's not a price war!" I pressed a hand to my mouth in order to stop the laughs from coming through. He looked at us, suddenly completely serious, "They want to overthrow the human race and destroy you," he didn't look like he was lying; "Do you believe me?"

I looked at him, "Maybe," I told him. I couldn't look away, "I don't know. It all seems so ridiculous, but I don't think that you're lying. You don't have any reason to lie to us. We're insignificant compared to what you're telling us," I eventually tore my gaze away, looking at the park on the opposite side of the road, "There are things that I can't explain, but does it make it real?"

"You're still listening," he answered and I looked down, knowing that he was right. I believed him in a way and I didn't...couldn't. It was far out of my comfort zone, and although I had always been able to pride myself on being able to see the bigger picture, I couldn't seen this picture. And I didn't think I would able to.

I stopped at the edge of the pavement, watching the Doctor walk away. I bit my lip, "Doctor," I called and he turned to look back at us. I was lost for words for a second, before speaking the questions that had been in my mind since we had met him in a little department store in Central London. "Who are you? How long have you…?" I shook my head, not understanding the questions that I had been asking, "Who are you?" I finally clarified.

He turned back and I blinked as I once again saw the blue police box parked on the corner. It hadn't been imaginary. The Doctor smiled slightly, whether from the question or from me noticing the blue box, I didn't know, "Do you know like we were saying, about the Earth revolving," he walked back to us, "It's like when you're a kid, and the first time they tell you that the world's turning and you just can't quite believe it because everything looks like it's standing still,"

"Yeah, I know," I said, in an almost whisper.

He looked at me, "I can feel it," he held my hand and I looked at him, "The turn of the Earth, the ground beneath our feet is spinning at one thousand miles an hour, and the entire planet is hurtling around the sun at sixty-seven thousand miles an hour and I can feel it," I felt what he was feeling, "We're falling through space, you and me. Clinging to the skin of this tiny little world, and if we let go," he dropped my hand, "That's who I am, now forget me Rose and Mary-Anne Tyler," he took the plastic arm off me and raised in a mock farewell; "Go home," this time he really did walk away and didn't look back. I wouldn't have been able to say anything to him anyway.

After a minute's silence, Rose took my hand, "Come on, Alice," she murmured slightly, "Let's go home," I only nodded and she led me away, and I eventually tore my eyes away from that strange little blue wooden box that couldn't have possibly been able to move from one side of London to here.

We were about half way back to my flat when a whooshing noise became apparent. I frowned, stopping in my tracks and turning around, "Come on," this time I pulled Rose and we ran all the way back to where we had just been with the Doctor. I stared at the corner of the street. "Have you noticed…?" The blue box had vanished in mid air, and I couldn't explain how it could have been missed.

"It's gone," my sister turned to me, "How did he manage to do that?" I shrugged, still at a loss. There was no way it could have disappeared so quickly, "I tell you what we're going to do thought. We can find out who the hell he is," she looked around the park, "Mickey's flat is closer," my face crumpled slightly, "Come on, let's go and see him. We can use his computer,"

"My computer has internet," I said mutinously, folding my arms, before following her, "Very well, I suppose it means that I don't have to pay for the dialup," I rubbed my arms, a chill settling over me. It had been a warm day, but the conversation that we had just had made me feel very cold, "Let's just get this over and done with as quickly as possible. It's getting cold out here,"

Fifteen minutes later and we were standing outside Mickey's flat and knocking on the door.

Mickey opened it, dressed in nothing but a tee-shirt and a pair of green florescent shorts. He grinned widely when he saw Rose, "Hey-hey," he hugged her tightly, "Here's my woman, kit off," he slapped her, playfully. He hadn't seen me yet and already it had become uncomfortable for me. I smiled tensely, "Oh," he raised an eyebrow, "What are you doing here, Alice?"

"We need to use your computer, Rickey," I told him, bluntly, "And Rose wanted to see you,"

"You're not…" I sighed before pushing past him to stand next to Rose, my arms folded. He clearly seemed to get the message that I wasn't going to be leaving without Rose, "Very well, Alice, have it your way," I didn't bother trying to argue with him. There was absolutely no point. I looked around his hallways silently disgusted with the absolute mess that the flat seemed to be in. Bikes were parked, leaving mud tracks on the floor. Posters were everywhere, most of them peeling off the walls, and there was a faint smell of slight damp, "Coffee,"

"Yeah, if you wash the mug, not rinse, wash," she replied, patting him on the back, "Like Alice said. We want to use your computer, can we?"

"Yeah," he nodded, going into the kitchen, and laughing, "Any excuse to get in the bedroom," I shot a look of disgust at him, "Not you, Alice," I walked past him, not answering. I sneezed as I went to the computer, "Don't read my emails!" he shouted.

I sat at the desk, "Your boyfriend's computer is appalling," I muttered, squinting at the screen, "Doesn't he know how to use a computer?" I loaded up the Internet, and typed 'Doctor' in the search box. Over seven hundred million results came up online, "Just a few to work through then,"

"We just need to narrow it down," she leant over my shoulder and typed in 'Doctor Living Plastic,' there were still around fifty-five thousand searches, with nothing really worthwhile coming out on top.

I looked up at her, "What about the blue box?" I proposed, "Put that in," she typed it in, and eventually only four hundred and ninety-three links appeared, "So we're getting somewhere," I pointed to the first entry, "Start from the beginning," She clicked on it and the first image that came up was one of the Doctor. I frowned at it. It wasn't of particularly good quality but it was recognisable as the man we had just seen. There was a link to contact a man named 'Clive'. "Do we want do this?" I asked softly, "He said that people would get killed if we told anyone. Something isn't right about all of this. Do we want to get mixed in something that we can't get out of?"

"Is that one of your personal feelings" she asked me, and I looked down. Truth be told, a little feeling was telling me that this was the right thing to do. And they hadn't exactly led me wrong before. Maybe I was just observant, but sometimes it had helped me out. Not a lot, but it sometimes led me to think things and know something. Like my diary. Day One, I had written last night. Day One of what exactly?

It was more of a silent agreement of what we were going to do, and that was to find out as much as possible about the Doctor. Within half an hour, we had managed to get a reply to the email that we had sent the owner of the website. The website looked legitimate, and it seemed like they were talking about the same man that we had met this morning. He however lived in West London. And we needed a lift to get there. Which was why we were now trying to persuade Mickey to talk us there. Not surprisingly, Rose's boyfriend was putting up quite a bit of fuss.

"Come on, Mickey," Rose looked at him pleadingly, desperately trying to persuade him to drive us there, "All we need to do is meet him, see what he knows. It's only going to be fifteen minutes at the maximum. We just want to know a few things. Nothing to it really. Come on,"

"He could be a serial murderer," he pointed out and I laughed at his mistrust. He glared at me, not appreciating my input, "It's no laughing matter, Alice," he folded his arms, "There are some seriously weird people around. You can't trust any of them,"

"And you've met most of them," I quipped sarcastically, "Meanwhile, back in the real world, we still need a life to this place," he looked less than happy, "If it makes you feel any better, you can wait outside. That way if we never come back out, you know who killed us," I smirked at his paranoia, "So can we go then?"

He grumbled all the way to Clive's house, "You're not coming in," Rose informed him as we parked in Mickey's yellow Beatle, "He's safe, he's got a wife and kids,"

"Yeah, who told you that?" he waved his hands around, clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation, "He did, that's exactly what an internet lunatic murderer would say," I just rolled my eyes, and got out of the car, leaning against the rusted door, "Please get off my car, Alice," I did as he asked, watching as Rose climbed out, and rapping on the glass as a form of reassurance for her uptight boyfriend.

I looked as Rose as we walked towards the house, "Mickey needs to work on his paranoia," I told my sister, "He's getting worked up about nothing," she didn't say anything, "You don't think this person is a serial killer?"

"Of course not," she scoffed, knocking on the door. I noticed that she didn't look completely confident when she said that, "Either way, I doubt someone could kill both of us at the same time," I nodded my agreement and the door opened to reveal a young boy, "Hello, we've come to see Clive?" he just stood there as not doing anything, "Erm, we've been emailing," she added hesitantly.

The boy suddenly looked completely disgusted, as if we were covered in garbage. I wondered what had decided to provoke such a reaction in him. The boy looked behind him, looking up the stairs; "Dad, it's a couple of your nutters!" he looked at us once again, as if sizing us up for something.

"Always nice to know that we're welcome," I murmured, pinching the bridge of my nose. This was already shaping up to become more than what it was worth. I didn't exactly bode well if the man's son thought we were insane.

A man appeared in the doorway, smiling widely, "Oh, sorry, hello," he looked back at his son who was already slipping away from them. I wasn't filled with self-confidence at the sight of him. He looked like an ordinary person. Clearly not an official person, "You must be Rose, and Alice," he shook both our hands, and I nodded awkwardly. "I'm Clive, obviously," he chuckled a little.

Rose smiled, already at ease with the man, her previous thoughts forgotten, "I better tell you now, my boyfriend's waiting in the car, just in case you're going to kill us," she laughed a little, pointing back at the yellow car where I could see Mickey watching us very carefully. He didn't seem to be very happy. I also hadn't realised that he was this protective over Rose. However, I supposed that it was slightly reasonable.

"Ah no, good point," he waved at Mickey, "No murders," Mickey merely jerked his head in a semblance of a nod. He didn't look reassured by the action. Someone called something from within the house, and Clive turned around, "Oh it's to do with the Doctor," he called up the stairs, "They've been reading the website, come through," he gestured for us to walk into the house, "I'm just in the shed," I hesitated a little, before following Rose and him to a tiny shed at the bottom of the garden. I stared at the interior. It was filled with pieces of paper; files spread everywhere, the table, the desk. Even more of it was pinned up on the walls, "A lot of this stuff's quite sensitive, I couldn't just send it to you, people might intercept it, if you know what I mean,"

"People?" I looked at him, sharply, "Like the government?"

"Yes," he said, nodding seriously. I shifted uncomfortably, "If you did deep enough and keep a look out, this Doctor keeps cropping up all over the place. Political diaries, conspiracy theories, even ghost stories," he laid a thick folder on the table, "No first name, no last name, always the Doctor- always the Doctor,"

"Maybe he doesn't have a name," I proposed, "Or maybe it's an alias of some kind,"

"That's what I thought," he was riffling through different files on the messy desk, "Because the title seemed to be passed down from father to son, there appears to be an inheritance. That's your Doctor there, isn't it?" he pointed at the computer screen, and I looked at the picture.

"Yeah," Rose said, nodding carefully.

"I tracked it down to the Washington Public Archives last year," Clive told us, "The online photo's enhanced, but if we look at the original," he got out pictures from a plastic wallet, and flicked through them, starting off as the picture from the website and gradually getting further and further away to reveal a picture of President John F. Kennedy, "November 22nd 1963, the assassination of President Kennedy," I took the picture, it didn't seemed to be fake. But that had been over forty years ago. And it appeared like the Doctor hadn't aged one bit since then.

"It must be his father," Rose explained and I frowned; genetics weren't that good that they could replicate another exact perfect copy. Life wasn't like that, it was random. It seemed as if the man in the picture was the same man.

Clive cleared his throat, drawing my attention back to him, "Going further back," he took out another picture, showing it to us, "April 1912," he showed us the photo, "This is the Daniels family of Southampton and friend," he tapped the man standing next to the family. I started, it was also the Doctor, looking exactly the same as the previous picture and the man that we had seen just this morning, "This was taken the day before they were due to sail to the New World on the Titanic, and for some unknown reason, they cancelled the trip, and survived,"

"That seems very lucky," I said, taking the picture and looking at it closely. It was exactly the same, "Too lucky," it seemed to be a perfect match.

"Here we are then," Clive took another picture from a stack of paper, "1883, another Doctor. But look, the same lineage, it's identical," I bit my lip, a frown marring my face. A pen drawing of the Doctor on an island, stared up at me, "This one washed up on the coast of Sumatra, the very night that Krakatoa exploded," he looked at us, "The Doctor is a legend woven throughout history. When disaster comes, he's there. He brings a storm in his wake and has one constant companion,"

"Who's that?" asked Rose, and I immediately felt a shudder run through me.

"Death," he told us ominously. I suppressed a sigh, "If the Doctor's back, if you've both seen him, then one thing's for certain. We're all in danger. If he's singled you out, if the Doctor's making house calls, then God help you,"

I was developing a massive headache; something was trying to get in, something that I had to remember. Something that didn't seem right in all of this mess of contradiction and half truths, "Hang on," I wanted...needed clarification on this, "Who is he? Who do you think he is?"

"I think he's the same man, I think he's immortal," he leant towards us, and I gently moved back, slightly uncomfortable of being in my personal space, "I think he's an alien from another world," Rose and I shared a look together. I knew that she was thinking the same thing as me. That a) we seemed to be mixed up in something that looked to be rather dangerous, and b) the man standing in front of us was certifiably insane.

Rose was the first to gather herself together, and she held out her out to him, "Well, thank you," she told him, and he shook it gratefully, "You've been really helpful,"

"Oh I'm glad to be of service," he said, shaking my hand. I merely nodded in return, painting a smile on my face. Inside I was just feeling a mass of confusion and intrigue, "And you have my email if want to know anything else about the Doctor. I have a lot of documents,"

"Oh, of course," I nodded, hesitatingly "We'll email if we have any queries," I looked at Rose, "But we really ought to be getting off. We've got another appointment later," Truth be told, I just wanted to get out of the dingy shed into clean air, so I could clear my head and think about what had just happened.


	4. Rose and Alice: Part 4

**Another rewrite. After these, I'm going to get back to where I've left off. It's just for my peace of mind, these rewrites.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine, never will.**

We walked to the car, with me slightly cursing in my head as Mickey was right, "All right, he's a nutter!" Rose opened the door of the car, "Off his head, a complete online conspiracy freak," I sat in the back, watching the sky outside. I really didn't know what to expect of the whole day, "You win," she fell back on the seat of the chair, looking at her boyfriend, "What are we going to do tonight? I fancy a pizza,"

"Pizza," Mickey said, "Puh-puh-pizza," I rolled my eyes, ignoring him. Rickey had decided to get even more idiotic than he usually was, and to me that came as a slight surprise. I hadn't actually thought that there was a possibility that he could decrease in brain power. After today, and meeting with Clive and everything that just served to make my head hurt, Rickey's idiocy seemed to be getting to me worse than usual. Perhaps it was just the sheer contrast in experiences.

"Or a Chinese," Rose thought about it for a bit. I placed a hand to my head. How could she so easily slip into the normal again, like nothing had ever happened? There was so much more to think about. The strange reassurances of the Doctor in all those photographs going all the way back through time? The way that he always had an air of loneliness surrounded him? I needed to think clearly and I couldn't do that here. I needed someone to talk to, and at the moment Rose was preoccupied with food.

"Pizza," Mickey drove off, and I grabbed the headrests in front of me. Was it just me, or had Mickey's driving gotten worse than it usually was. He was driving all over the place, nearly hitting the pavement on more than one occasion. I closed my eyes for a second. I felt like I was going to throw up.

"Brilliant," I leaned forward, looking between the two people in the front of the car, "If you're going for a pizza then you can drop me off outside the restaurant. I need to think about things. And perhaps try to find a job, seeing as our last one went up in flames," I shot a disgusted look at Mickey, "And I can't stand to be around either of you two for a moment longer, you're both sickeningly sweet with each other. It's making me feel nauseous,"

"All right," Rose said rolling her eyes, "It's not like I want you there with my boyfriend. We all know how much you detest each other. How much you detest most people," I felt slightly hurt by that. I didn't hate everyone. I was just prickly with a lot of people. She looked at me, apologetically, "I'm sorry," she murmured, "But I know how you and Mickey always have a go at each other. It's like watching two kids argue over the same toy. He is my boyfriend,"

I looked at her, raising an eyebrow at her words, "How much would you like it if I brought one of my friends around, and start kissing them in front of you?" I inquired to her, and she wrinkled her nose, "How much would you like it then?"

"Define them," she answered, "When there is someone in your life that you actually like,"

"Male, female, I don't honestly care," she blinked at me, "Oh...you do make me laugh, Rose," I smiled, ignoring the pain in my stomach when Mickey served out of the way of a lamp post, "Can't you drive a little slowly?" I demanded of him, only to get ignored. I looked back at Rose, "It doesn't matter who the person is that your with. Doesn't matter if they're a girl or a boy. As long as they accept me for all my faults then I will give them a chance,"

"If you find someone then I will be happy," she murmured, "They'll keep you out of trouble at any rate," she twisted around to look at me properly, "And when that happens, I won't want to see you kissing them in front of me,"

"Naturally," I smiled, "We don't need to know everything about each other's lives, you know," we arrived outside the pizza restaurant in fifteen minutes, "Well this has been a fun drive. Rickey, you need to work steering correctly," I placed my hands in my pockets, looking at Rose; "I hope you two have a nice time together. Don't eat too much. Talk to her about jobs, Rickey, she needs ideas, we both do," I hopped out, tapping on the window, and waving goodbye to her. Rose opened the window, "We'll talk tonight, yeah?" she nodded and I smiled, walking away from the yellow Beetle.

I paused when I passed a narrow alleyway. The blue box was sitting there, just behind the restaurant, looking seemingly innocent in nature. I quickly looked back at Rose and Mickey, seeing them go into the restaurant, talking to each other. I tilted my head, there no need to bother them, they were busy and I was old enough to do something without Rose. I looked at the box again. I shouldn't even be considering to go up to it. The Doctor meant danger that much I knew. I should be running as fast as I could away from any sign of him and his blue box.

I shifted from foot to foot, making a quick decision, and walking down the alley. It was a police telephone box, real wood and metal. I thought back to my history lessons at school, and briefly remembered that they hadn't been around since 1960. So what was one doing in the middle of London, in 2005? I walked around it, tapping it slightly. It was real. And solid. So how had it been able to move from the Powell Estate to outside Pizza Express?

I plucked up all the courage that I possessed and rapped on the door, hearing some movement in there. I knocked harder, and the door eventually opened to reveal the Doctor, "Do you mind, I'm trying to do something," he said, before stopping when he saw me, "It's you again. Mary-Anne Tyler,"

"Doctor," I said, folding my arms, and craning to look inside the box. It looked too small to be able to contain much, "Am I allowed to ask what were you doing inside a blue box?" he shut the door smartly behind him, preventing me from being able to see inside, "There's no point closing the door. I know that it belongs to you," I walked around it again; "I saw it on the street corner when we met the last time. It must be very easy to transport it from there to here in a couple of hours,"

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied to me, and I looked at him carefully, "How can you see it?" he asked me, "Most people don't notice it, they walk right past it without even stopping. This is the second time that I've seen that you've noticed it. How do you see it?"

I shrugged, feeling slightly self conscious, "I don't know," I explained, "The night when you blew up the shop where I worked, I thought I saw it then, parked in an alley that was just across the road from the store. Then this morning, it was there when you were talking to me. And now it's behind a restaurant where my sister has just gone inside," I swallowed, "I know that the government kicked out the police boxes in the early sixties, I've never seen one before. But you always seem to be around one. Forgive me, Doctor, but I just don't believe in that many coincidences," I cocked my head, "Am I allowed to have a look inside?"

"No," the word was bluntly put to me. I refused to let it drop. I had nearly been killed by plastic dummies, my job had been blown up, my sister had been throttled by a plastic arm, been told that there was something that wanted to overthrow the human race, and had visited a conspiracy nutcase which had both confused and scared me. And all of this was connected to the man in front of me, looking rather pleased with himself. I had enough of the days where I wasn't getting any information. My world seemed to be in colour now, when all it used to be was grey.

"Why not?" I raised and dropped my shoulders in slight defiance of him, "It's not like I'm going to be able to tell anyone. They'll probably think I'm mad if I say that there's a man running around London in a police telephone box talking about living plastic, and disappearing," I looked up at him, "How did you move it here?"

He ignored me, "I thought your name was Mary-Anne, why did your sister call you Alice earlier?" he ignored my question, and I glared at him for changing the subject, "You did tell me that it was Mary-Anne,"

I sighed, I suppose that it was a valid question, "All part of Alice in Wonderland," I explained, "My Mum liked the name Mary-Anne, just like in the book, but wanted a common nickname for me. So in the end she decided to call me Mary-Anne for my proper name and nicknamed me: Alice," I chuckled slightly to myself, rubbing the back of my neck, "It seems like I've ended up in my own Wonderland now. And I want the answers. Why did you want to know?"

He laughed slightly, "It's so human," he told me, stepping away from the box, "You place two names that can be found anywhere in the world and you place them together to get something so very uncommon. You always continually surprise me,"

"I gather that this is a way to confuse me so I don't keep persisting on trying to look inside your blue wooden box," I said plainly and he smiled, "You know, I can always find my own way in, it's not as if I've never picked a lock. I always lose my own keys. Have to get into my flat someway," I walked around the box again.

"You can't pick this lock," he informed me, looking quite smug, "You will need to have to find the key,"

I smiled slightly, "No lock is infallible, Doctor," I pulled out a paper clip from my pocket, and inserted it into the lock on the blue box; "I first learned how to do this when I was nine. Rose showed me how to pick my way through the lock of the biscuit tin at home," I jiggled the wire lightly, taking a look at the Doctor. He was watching me carefully, amusement shining through his eyes, "Never really stopped doing it, thought even when I didn't have to,"

"You know it's not going to work," he said to me, "You're going to need the key to get in, and I have the only key to get into it," I looked up at the light shining on top, running a finger down the paint work. I pressed my head against the door, still fiddling with the paperclip and then after a moment's pause, it opened.

I smiled at the sight inside the tiny blue box, completely unprepared to what was inside.

The Doctor stared at the box as if he hadn't seen it before in this light, "Why did you do that?" he murmured, "How did you do that?"

I didn't answered, just stepped into the box, staring at the endless space inside it. It was...impossible, but intrinsically beautiful, "Oh, but you are beautiful," I murmured, finally breaking my silence. There were massive arches looking like it was holding it up. It was also filled by a golden glow from the metal plates that made up the shell off the interior. There were doors coming off the different sides of the room, looking like they were leading to other rooms. It was amazing and there weren't any words that I could say to explain it completely.

"I hope you're not talking to me," the Doctor said,

I looked at him, "Your ship," I explained, before running up to looked around the centre piece. It was green and glowing, seeing a million different things, "And it has to be a ship because this has to be really, really heavy. You can't carry something like this," I placed a hand against the glass tubing in the middle, feeling it's warmth, "And it is so very beautiful,"

"You're not going to mention its size?" he asked me,

"Should I?" I put to him turning around in a circle, seeing everything, and yet not really taking in anything, "I know it's bigger on the inside, but I would have thought you would have got bored with people saying that fact," I walked around the console, seeing the different things, a bell, a pump, a whistle. All so random and yet specifically placed. I could probably stay in here forever and never leave if I had a choice.

"What makes you think I've brought more people in here?" he stepped up to the console where I was standing.

"Because you're lonely," I informed him, and he froze slightly. I stared at him, the warmth of the console bleeding through me, and all I could think about was how terribly lonely he was, "How long have you worn that face, Doctor, because your eyes tell a different story? You've lived longer than more people would imagine, I'll say. Someone with eyes like that, eyes that lonely, they don't want to be alone. They want to be with other people,"

"You think that you know all about me," he walked up to me, his face a mess of hurt, interest and anger, "You don't know anything about me or what I've been through or even what I've done. Don't make that mistake, Mary-Anne Tyler,"

"Oh I wouldn't dare think to know all about you," I replied, "But I can guess at tiny parts, tiny little things. But I don't dare to say that I know all about you. How could I? We only met yesterday, and in that you've managed to change how I see this world," he turned away, "Don't think that I'm ignorant, Doctor. I'm eighteen; I haven't got a job or even decent qualifications. But I do know people, however much they irritate and annoy me. I can read people, sometimes. And I know that I'm right about you, you don't have to defend yourself. Just don't lie to me,"

"You haven't asked the most important question of all," he said, turning back to me, his face a blank mask, "Who am I?"

"I don't need to ask you," I replied, "You and I both know who you are. I might not know exactly, but I can guess. This ship is alien," I looked at the magnificent cavern, "It's bigger on the inside than on the outside. Nothing in this world could be able to make this, it's just..." I trailed off, "It's...outside this world. This world," I looked back at him, "And you...you've been so far, I..." I bit my lip, "There's a picture of you from Krakatoa, and before the Titanic, and J.F. Kennedy's assassination...I don't pretend to know but if this ship is alien, then it would make sense if it's...owner was alien as well,"

"You're quite perceptive," he told me, and I shrugged, "It's called the TARDIS," he explained, "It stands for Time and Relative Dimensions in Space,"

I smiled widely, "Time and Relative Dimensions in Space," I echoed him, shaking my head slightly, "God, you must think we are so small, Doctor," I shook my head, "Fleeting human lives, we're gone in a blip. Doesn't matter, end of the road, full stop. We're over in a flash just tiny little people making up a second of your life. How long have you been around for? How long you do expect to live for? We're nothing," I looked at him hard, "Which is why I am now wondering why you're here," he frowned, "You've landed outside the restaurant that my sister is in. That can't be another coincidence,"

"I was tracking the living plastic signal down," he said, "Located onto the restaurant,"

I waved my hands, pointing at him, "Hang on, earlier you said that the living plastic controller had fixed onto Rose and I because we were with you. What if they are still fixing on us, what if they…" I looked towards the door, "Mickey," I thought he had been driving a little wildly. He loved that stupid yellow car, why would he suddenly drive like a maniac.

"Mickey?" he said confused, "Who's Mickey?"

"You don't need to know," I said, walking towards the door, "But I think I know where your signal is leading you to, and I want to see what happens?" I paused by the door, "Are you coming?" I slipped out into the alley. The Doctor was right behind me, "So is it a screwdriver?"

He held it up, "Sonic screwdriver," he explained, "It allows me to unlock doors, put up shelves etc," he locked the door of the TARDIS, "Very useful,"

We walked out of the alleyway looking at the people milling around, not even noticing that we had stepped out of practically nowhere, "I hadn't noticed how unobservant we can be," I murmured and he grinned, his whole face lighting up, "They're in here," I pushed open the door seeing Rose and Mickey sitting in the middle of the room, "I think I'll let you interrupt them," I informed him, "They wouldn't be interested if I interrupted them,"

The Doctor nodded and grabbed a bottle of champagne off the side of the bar, walking over to the two people sitting at the table. He held it out to them, "Your champagne, sir," he said, and they didn't bother looking up, they were too engrossed in their own conversation.

"We didn't order any champagne," Mickey and I realised that he was too plastic to be human. He didn't look real enough to be completely human. There was a fake sheen to his face, "Where's the Doctor?" he gripped Rose's arm.

He walked round to Rose's side, "Madam, your champagne," the Doctor held it out to Rose,

"It's not ours," said Rose, waving a hand and not even looking up. She really needed to short out her priorities at the moment. Her boyfriend was now a plastic dummy, "Mickey, what is it, what's wrong?"

"I need to find out what he knows," Mickey answered her, "So where is he?"

"Doesn't anyone want this champagne?" asked the Doctor and Mickey sighed angrily.

"We didn't order any..." he replied, looking up at the Doctor and me, before freezing slightly at the sight of us, "Ahh gotcha," Rose looked at us, surprise written all over her face. She clearly hadn't been expecting us to turn up like this.

I grabbed the bottle off the Doctor, "Don't mind us," I started to shake it quickly, "Ohh I've wanted to do this for years," I kept shaking it, smiling slightly, "We're just toasting the happy couple," I aimed the bottle at Mickey, unfastening the top, "On the house!"

I released the cork and it bounced into his forehead, the plastic absorbing it. I stared at him as he chewed it and then spat it out; the cork bouncing uselessly on the floor. I was slightly stunned; "Anyway…" he stood up, his hand morphing into a plastic board which he promptly broke the table with. People screamed as he wreaked havoc, and just like with the plastic arm, the Doctor grabbed Plastic Mickey's head and wrenched it right off. I stared as the head opened its eyes and spoke, "Don't think that's going to stop me," a man screamed.

The headless body then started attacking anything and everything. Rose quickly pressed the fire button, "Everyone out, out now!" she shouted and I ran after the Doctor, who was still holding the head, through the kitchen, where all of the staff were running as fast as they could to get out of the place, "Get out; get out!"

I could still hear the headless body behind us banging into walls and smashing glasses throughout the restaurant, "How can something with no eyes have such a good sense of direction?" I asked the Doctor, "I mean it's a body without any eyes. It shouldn't be able to move properly, let alone follow us,"

"It can sense the head," he answered, sonicking the door as we raced outside into the alley behind the restaurant, "It doesn't have eyes in the way you think it has eyes. The whole plastic body can be used to see properly. Like the window shop dummies and the arm," I nodded, walking towards the TARDIS.

Rose immediately ran to the locked gates, "Open the gate," she shouted, panicking as the headless body of Mickey pounded against the metal door. I looked back briefly, it could easily get through it, if it tried hard enough, "Use that tube thing, come on!" I ignored her, in favour of waiting for the Doctor to open the door of the blue box.

"Sonic screwdriver," he corrected her, holding it up.

"Use it!" she shouted, "Come on, you can't just leave it here,"

"Nah," he finally opened the TARDIS, "Tell you what, let's go in here," he gestured to the open door and disappeared through it. I looked back at Rose, smiling slightly as she stared at me. I nodded to the box and went inside, shutting the door, as it did so, "Your sister...she'll come through in a minute?" I nodded, still transfixed by the sight of the box, "Good?" he frowned, "She's a year older than you?"

"Ten months exactly," I told him, slightly distracted, "She's acts a lot older than me, so she'll think that this is a little weird," Rose ran into the TARDIS, and seeing its magnitude, she ran back out again, "Like that. She'll be back though, she's like me. She won't stop trying to find out about something,"

He was wiring the head up to the console, seemingly deep in thought, "Stopping to think about how it is bigger in the inside is a normal human response," he told me, "It's outside anything that you could properly explain," he looked at me pointedly, "They don't try and pick the lock,"

"I like having answers to questions, and you've only ever given me questions," I informed him lightly, before wandering over to him, "What are you doing?" I looked as he was sticking wires into the head, "Red to the ears, blue to the nose," I nodded, "That works,"

He looked up at me, "You're only eighteen," he said, "How do you know about…"

"Plugs," I explained to him, "I started doing my A-Levels when I was sixteen. Never completed them," I sighed, "But I do know how to wire a plug, this doesn't seem so different from doing that," he smiled, looking at me, and I held out my hand to him, "I'm Mary-Anne Tyler, it's nice to meet you,"

He grasped it, "The Doctor," he replied, "Good to meet you too,"

Rose burst through the door again, "It's going to follow us," she said to the Doctor, and he dropped my hand, turning to look at her.

"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door," he told her, "And believe me, they've tried;" he was buzzing with the screwdriver against the head again, "Now shut up a minute," I went over to her, seeing if she was all right. She looked slightly shaken but looked as if she was able to get over the sudden shock of it, "You see the arm was too simple, but the head is perfect. I can use it to trace the signal back to the original source," he turned to her, standing above her on the grill plate, "Right, where do you want to start?"

"Oh," she looked at the ship, "The inside is bigger than the outside?" she questioned.

"Yes," he nodded,

"It's alien," she answered, shakily.

"Yep," he was very blunt with her. There was no point evading the questions anymore, we had seen the inside of this ship and there was nothing else to say about it. I think he knew this and knew that the only was that he could do was to just give us the answers in the cleanest way possible. No elaboration, no decoration, just the plain and simple truth of the matter.

"Are you alien?" she looked at him clearly.

"Yes," he replied, nodding, and there was a long pause where none of us had anything else to say, "Is that all right?"

"Yes," we both answered and looked at each other. I had the strangest wish to laugh at that point. This day probably couldn't have gotten any stranger, but I didn't mind. If this was the only day that I could have that I could see the world as it truly was, then I would be able to live out the rest of my life, totally complete with myself.

"It's called the TARDIS, this thing, T-A-R-D-I-S. Time and Relative Dimension in Space," Rose suddenly sobbed, placing her hand to her mouth in a silent terror. I placed a hand on her back, looking at her; she was genuinely upset about something, "That's OK, culture shock. Happens to the best of us,"

She shook my hand off of her, straightening up and wiping her eyes, determined not to break down in front of this man, "Did they kill him?" she asked, swallowing heavily at the potential prospect, "Mickey? Did they kill Mickey, is he dead?"

The Doctor looked blank, not understanding the question, before the confusion cleared in his eyes and thinking hard, "Oh," he said it as if it hadn't ever really occurred to him, "I didn't think of that," I stared at him. He had pulled off someone's head and hadn't even thought to notice that the real version was missing. I didn't like Mickey at the best of times, but even I recognised when he was in a room. I didn't know if he had genuinely forgotten or if he had deliberately done it.

Rose looked furious at the Doctor, "He's my boyfriend. You pulled of his head, they copied him and you didn't even think?" Rose snarled, and then gestured behind him, at the head on the console, "And now you're just going to let him melt?"

"Melt?" he questioned, and I looked past him seeing that the head of Mickey was collapsing in on itself, melting. The Doctor seemed upset that something wasn't working, "Oh, no, no, no. no. no!" he immediately ran around the different section of the centrepiece, pulling down different levers and switches. The ground under us shifted, the whole box seemed to be tilting slightly and there was a noisy grinding from the glass console, as it moved up and down. I grasped onto the railing as it rumbled and groaned.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked him, and I looked over to see the Doctor hitting a mallet on it.

"Following the signal, it's fading," he said, looking at a screen, "No, no, no! Almost there," the centre column was moving up and down and the whole room was shaking harder and the Doctor was laughing, "Here we go," he ran outside.

"Hang on!" I said, "You can't go out," I ran out of the doors, "Doctor..." I stared around me.


	5. Rose and Alice: Part 5

**Final rewrite of this Episode. Then I'm going to just tidying up the beginning chapter of End of the World and that's it. I can get down to writing some more.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

It was London, but not the alleyway in which we had been in. We were right next to the River Thames. The Houses of Parliament were right next to us and the London Eye was a stone's throw away, across the water. How had we moved?

The Doctor was walking to the water's edge, looking absolutely furious with him, "I lost the signal," he said, irritated, "I was so close!" he rubbed his head, and I looked behind me as Rose ran out of the TARDIS and staring around in slight wonder.

Rose closed the door of the TARDIS, "We've moved," she waved a hand at the blue box behind us, "Does it fly?"

"It disappears here and reappears here, you wouldn't understand," he told us in a biting tone. I leant against the TARDIS, not wanting to get into this argument. I had been in far too many of them to be of any use, and to argue back with someone who was this annoyed was only going to serve to irritate myself and him and get us absolutely nowhere in terms of finding Mickey and the thing that had been controlling the plastic.

"But..." Rose was still rather distracted by the sight of having moved to a completely new place, "If we're somewhere else now, rather than in that alleyway," I bit my finger, "What about that headless thing...? is it still on the loose somewhere,"

"It melted with the head," he snapped angry with himself, "Are you going to witter on all night?" he looked at us, equally annoyed with us for being there and himself for not being able to follow the trail of the plastic head.

Rose looked away, "I'll have to tell his mother," she whispered softly and I raised an eyebrow, not understanding her distress. The Doctor seemed to be having the same trouble that I was in understanding what she was getting at, "Mickey, I'll have to tell his mother he's dead, and you went and forgot him again!" she shook her head, confused and lost and uncertain with what was going on at the moment. To be fair to the Doctor, I hadn't exactly understood where she had been going with it as well, it hadn't just been him, "You were right, you are alien,"

"Look," he in a bristling tone, "If I did forget some kid called Mickey," the Doctor suddenly completely furious with how everything seemed to be playing out tonight. I looked at him carefully. He didn't seem to be angry about making the mistake of forgetting about Mickey, rather about the fact that he didn't realise that Mickey might have been dead. Maybe he did care about him, at least in a tiny way, "It's because I'm busy trying to save the lives of every stupid ape, blundering about on the top of this planet, all right?"

That didn't deter Rose in the slightest, "All right!" she shouted,

"Yes it is!" he shouted back. I was slightly hurt at the prospect that he had insulted the entire human race, but then...I thought, as he was an alien, and it appeared to be a rather old alien, then didn't he have the right to call us stupid? He had seen us throughout time, as was evident of the pictures scattered throughout the different eras. He probably had seen our rise and fall, the very best and the very worse of us, and like I had said earlier to him. We must have seemed very, very small to him.

"Shut up!" I finally pulling myself out of my reverie and interrupting their argument. I looked at both of them, "Rose, I don't think you need to worry about Rickey, I'm sure he's fine," she didn't look convinced, "You haven't found a body yet, anything could happen," I swivelled on my heels to look at the Doctor, "Doctor?" he glared a little at me, "If you are an alien, then how come you sound like you're from the north?" I asked.

He stared at me, as if he hadn't properly seen me before, "Lots of planets have a north," he said, as a way of explaining his accent.

Rose sighed, looking at the TARDIS, "What's a police public call box?" she asked, slightly hesitantly. She didn't want to give a reason for having him shout at her again.

He smiled slightly, resting a hand on the box, "It's a telephone box from the nineteen-fifties," he said, grinning, "It's a disguise," I stared at him, it didn't look like a disguise. No one used a police telephone box anymore. Anyone who walked past it would instantly be able to tell you that there wasn't any chance of it being able to be hidden.

Ok," she nodding, "And this living plastic, what's it got against us?"

"Nothing," he said, "It loves you. You've got just a great planet; lots of smoke and oil, plenty of toxins and dioxins in the air. Perfect, just what the Nestene Consciousness," he paced around on the pavement, now clearly enjoying the fact that he could talk to someone about this. I don't think he had anyone to really talk to for a long time. Now that we had seen pretty much everything that had come with him, he was rather open for sharing with us, "Its food stock was destroyed in the war. All its protein planets rotted, so Earth- dinner,"

"Any way of stopping it," I asked him, and he pulled out a blue tube of liquid, holding it up to the light. Truth be told, it didn't exactly look like much at the moment.

"Antiplastic," he informed us,

"Antiplastic," Rose and I both asked him, before laughing slightly that we were asking him the exact same question

"Antiplastic," he agreed, "But first I've got to find it," he started walking around again, "How can you find something that big in a city this small?"

"Hold on," I raised a hand and he turned to look directly at me, "You're talking about something which is hidden," I shrugged, "What's being hidden?"

He was in full flow of talking to us know. He seemed to come alive with explaining to us. I had been right, he did need someone to be around him, so he could show off slightly to them as well as tell them what was going on in his head. He needed and wanted people to be around him so he could be truly alive, rather than just...existing, "The transmitter," he explained, gesturing around himself, "The Consciousness controls every single piece of plastic, so it needs a transmitter to boot the signal,"

"What does it look like?" asked Rose,

"Like a transmitter," he answered, which didn't make a whole lot of sense to me, "Round and massive, somewhere slap-bang in the middle of London," we were moving along the river, listening to every single word that was flowing out of his mouth, "A huge metal circular structure, like a dish, like a wheel. Close to where we're standing, must be completely invisible,"

He was standing right in front of the Millennium wheel. A huge circular structure, which was right in the middle of the centre of London. I could hardly believe my eyes and looking at Rose next to me, it seemed like she could hardly believe it as well. I think we had just found the transmitter, "Doctor," I said faintly, looking at it. The London Eye was a transmitter for an alien that wasn't part of this world. The day probably couldn't have gotten any stranger than it already had.

"What?" he asked, turning around to see the Millennium Eye? He turned back, clearly not getting it, "What?" We both nodded at it, and he looked again, "What is it? What?" he looked again, and then turned back, finally understanding what we had both just seen, "Oh," he grinned, "Fantastic!"

He ran off already searching for something, "Wait for us!" I called after him, grabbing Rose's hand and running as fast as I could. I was not going to let either of us miss out on what was going to happen. I wanted to see this right to the very ending. We both caught up with him easily, and we all ran across the bridge to the other side, standing under the Millennium Eye, a hidden transmitter which I don't think anyone else realised. Once again I was struck with the surreal. I could see people walking around, and they had no idea what danger they were in.

We slowed to a stop, and I allowed myself to breath slowly out, holding my side slightly. I hadn't run that fast and that far in a long time. I also got a sneaking suspicion that if you were around the Doctor, then running would become a rather common place activity. He seemed to enjoy the thrill of danger, "Think about it, all over the world, every artificial thing coming waiting to alive," he told us, "The shop window dummies, the phones, the wires; the cables,"

"The breast implants," added Rose and we all paused,

"Right," I answered, bridging the silence.

The Doctor swiftly moved onto the main subject, "Still, I've found the transmitter, the Consciousness must be somewhere underneath," the Doctor looked around, "We just have to find where it's hidden itself," we all looked at each other, before moving off in different direction, searching for something that might lead to the drainage system underneath. I didn't exactly know what I was meant to be looking for in all honesty, but I kept looking, knowing that it was important.

Rose suddenly shouted at us, waving her hand, "What about down here!" she called and I saw that she was leaning over the edge of the balustrade of the Embankment. I walked quickly over to her, squinting in the darkness to see a grate by the river side.

We both look at the Doctor who shrugged, "Looks good to me," he replied and he ran down the steps to the water's edge, Rose and I following behind him. We all crouched around it, watching as he twisted the top, opening it up. A huge puff of steam came bellowing out of the hole and I immediately recoiled sharply at the smell of the hot damp chamber underneath us.

"That looks and smells revolting," I muttered sighing slightly as he jumped into it, "And we're going in," I jumped in after Rose, coming out in a small and cramped room. The Doctor was already at the door, opening it smoothly with the sonic screwdriver and after it opened, we walked out into a huge cavernous room. I stared slightly in shock at what was below us. It was a huge plastic creature in what looked like a tub. It looked plastic, squirming around and spilling slightly over the edges.

"The Nestene Consciousness," the Doctor explained to us, "That's it inside the vat. A living plastic creature," It didn't look like what I had expected an alien to look like. But I took one look at the Doctor and supposed that he didn't exactly look like he was an alien. But the place we were in was dirty and grimy; not exactly somewhere I had expected an alien to reside. Especially one which was trying to take over the world, and eat the oil in the ground.

"Well then," Rose nudged him slightly, "Slip in your anti plastic and let's go," She didn't look like she wanted to stay here any longer than I did.

He looked at her as if she was insane, "I'm not here to kill it," he explained, "I've got to give it a chance," he strode closer to the alien, walking down the steps of the room slowly, before placing both hands on the railing, "I seek audience with the Nestene Consciousness under peaceful contract, according to Convention Fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation," there was a rumbling from the vat, which I assumed was the creature talking to him. I couldn't understand what it was saying but I assumed the Doctor did as the next thing he said was, "Thank you, if I might have permission to approach?"

Before the creature had time to respond, Rose noticed something, "Oh God," she was quickly running down the steps and I noticed Mickey there, huddled and afraid, looking like he had been sweating. He looked absolutely filthy.

"Well Rickey's alive," I muttered, staying where I was, right next to the Doctor. I suppose I was glad to see that Mickey was still alive. He did make Rose happy and she would probably be heartbroken if he had died at the hands of a alien. Not that I would ever admit that to him unless I was under torture.

"Mickey, it's me, it's ok, it's all right," she hugged him, before she looked back up at us, calling loudly, "Doctor, they kept him alive!"

We walked down another flight of stairs, and I leant against the railings, "Yeah, that was always a possibility," the Doctor nodded, seemingly unconcerned, but I could tell that he was slightly amused as Rose stared in silent fury at him, "Keep him alive to maintain the copy," I placed a hand over my mouth, smiling slightly.

"You knew that and you never said?" she asked him, the angry words forcibly ejected from her mouth.

"Can we keep the domestics outside, thank you?" he asked them, as he walked down another set of stairs. I quickly followed him unwilling to be left alone with no one to have my back. I was safer if I was with someone, and seeing as Rose was tied up with Mickey at the moment, "Am I addressing the Consciousness?" there was just a roar of agreement, "Thank you," he drew himself up, "If I might observe you infiltrated this civilisation by warp-shunt technology, so may I suggest with the greatest respect that you shunt off?"

There was another roar, "I don't think he liked that," I said to the Doctor.

He frowned at the creature, already responding to whatever he said, "Oh don't give me that, it's an invasion, plain and simple. Don't talk about constitutional rights," another roar, "I am talking!" he shouted, and I took a step away from him. He was slightly scary when he was shouting, "This planet is just starting. These stupid little people have only just learnt how to walk but they're capable of so much more. I'm asking you on their behalf. Please just go,"

"Doctor! Alice!" Rose suddenly shouted and I turned around just to see two mannequins grab us.

I struggled against the plastic hands, disliking the feel of the cold hands closing around my shoulders, preventing me from moving anywhere, "Oh dear," I said as a third doll came up and took the Antiplastic out of the Doctor's pocket, holding it up in front of us.

"That was just insurance," the Doctor assured the creature, "I wasn't going to use it," the Nestene Consciousness screamed in anger at us, "I am not attacking you, I'm here to help. I'm not your enemy, I swear, I'm not," the Consciousness moaned, "What do you mean? No!" I looked behind me, and saw the TARDIS behind us, "Honestly, no!"

"Doctor, what is it?" I asked him, "What are they doing?"

He ignored my ship, looking down at the other alien, "Yes, that's my ship," he said to the plastic, and it spoke something. I watched as something crossed over the Doctor's face, there was something that seemed to terrify him, something that struck a note within him that in all the moods that I had seen him in throughout that day, I hadn't seen one sign of this emotion. It was true anguish and sadness, "That's not true, I should know, I was there. I fought in the war, it wasn't my fault," I looked at him. War? Images suddenly ran through my head of things I had never seen before, and I closed my eyes against them, "I couldn't save your world; I couldn't save any of them!"

"What's it doing?" Rose called down at us, seeing that something had changed, that we were both in trouble.

"It's the TARDIS," the Doctor managed to twist around to look at her, several flights of stairs up from us, "The Nestene's identified it as superior technology," he explained, "It's terrified; it's going to the final base, it's starting the invasion,"

"Rose, do us all a favour and go!" I shouted at her, "Just go, get Mickey out, get yourself out of here and just run as fast as you can in the opposite direction,"

Rose instead of doing what I thought would be quite clever in this situation and running as fast as she could with Mickey, decided to take out her phone, dialling it quickly, "Mum?" I heard her say and I stared at her in incredulous disbelief, "Where are you, Mum?"

"Oh fantastic," I was still struggling as hard as I could against the plastic hands that were holding me as tight as possible, "There's an invasion starting, the end of the world as we know it today, and instead of running as fast as she should which would be the most sensible thing to do in any situation, my sister is on the phone...to her mother. She needs to sort out her priorities,"

"Go home!" Rose shouted down the phone, and I sighed as I knew she was trying to protect her. I would probably have done the same, maybe, "Just go home, right now!" There was a pause, "Mum?" Rose looked at her phone, and I knew that it had been cut off.

A thin blue light crackled out of the vat and burst through the roof of the room, sending chunks of concrete flying down, and I turned away from the sight, hoping beyond hope that it wasn't going to hit me, "It's the activation signal, it's transmitting!" the Doctor shouted, fighting as hard as he possibly could.

I looked back at her, "The stairs have gone!" she said at me, before running to the TARDIS, banging on the door which refused to open, "I don't have the key!" I closed my eyes, of all the times to forget how to pick a lock, Rose, she had probably chosen the worse time ever.

I was still struggling against the mannequin, "Oh, come on, Mary-Anne," I muttered to myself using the name that I had always hated, "Eighteen years old, you've voted, been kicked out of school, fought, lied, cried, wired a damn plug, loved computers, dreamt about things that you have never understood. Think," I thought as hard as I could, "There's always something that they forget,"

"Time Lord," the Consciousness in the vat growled and twisted around. I look seeing that Rose had run to the pipes and chains, and was getting a chain down. She looked as if she was having the same thought process as me. I smiled slightly; we were truly sisters in that way.

Then I remembered, "Oh," I looked down at my feet, seeing the stationary plastic feet that were within my reach of kicking. I twisted my foot around the plastic, knocking the mannequin back. I spun around, aiming a sharp kick which knocked the head clean off. I smiled slightly to myself; I hadn't expected to have been able to do that. The headless body moved towards me and I quickly grabbed the chain that Rose was swinging, kicking the headless body into the vat. She in turn had kicked the other mannequin and the blue liquid that had made up the Antiplastic split into the vat. The Nestene Consciousness was suddenly screaming in pain.

"Mary-Anne!" the Doctor called, "Rose!" he grabbed us as we made it back, "Nice moves," he had also got rid of his mannequins,

"Gymnastics," Rose explained before looking at me, "I didn't know you knew how to do that," I merely smiled, shrugging. I didn't want to tell her that I had no way of knowing what had just happened. I was just proud of myself for doing that one very small thing.

We all looked down to the Consciousness, which was twisting and writhing in agony, wanting to get out, wanting someone to save it. And yet I knew that it couldn't be saved, it had made a choice to kill us and it was now paying for that lapse in judgement, "Now we're in trouble," the Doctor smiled slightly. We ran up the stairs to the TARDIS, which Mickey was clutching desperately onto it when we reached him, and the Doctor had to crane round him to open it.

I paused when I went in, and I looked once more at the screaming Nestene Consciousness, "I'm sorry," I said to it, it was dying and had no one with it. I would hate to die that way, with no one knowing that I was here, no one left to be with me, "I'm really, very sorry," Maybe it seemed to know that I was there, or maybe it was my imagination, but the screaming seemed to lessen somewhat as I spoke to it. I sighed before walking back into the TARDIS and shutting the door behind me.

I rested my head on the doors feeling the whole ship shake and move, "Are you all right?" the Doctor asked me, and I looked at him slightly, seeing him stand next to me, "It made a choice to kill us,"

"It was dying," I said to him, honestly, "All it wanted to do was have something to eat. Basic nature, it might not have done it in the best way, but I don't think I can hate it for what it did," I closed my eyes, "It's like everything was there waiting for it, and it couldn't help but just take and take. That it didn't care for the consequence. I haven't seen anyone die before. I can't hate it though; I don't think I can hate it,"

"No," he agreed, "There are more things that are better suited to hating than the Nestene Consciousness," he shrugged, "I don't like it either," he looked over to Mickey who was huddled next to Rose, appearing completely frightened of the sight of the room, "And your friend is annoying,"

I looked at him plainly, "He's not my friend," I informed him, "I just don't think he has a wider view of the world," we walked up to the console, and I smiled slightly, "Just pretend he's not there and it should help a lot," I tapped the console lightly, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"You're interested in my ship?" he asked, folding his arms, "Why?"

"I'm interested in everything," I told him, "What fits what, why things happen, and the biggest one of all: What is the point?" I looked down smiling, "I'm just glad that I've seen part of that bigger picture. I needed it, most definitely. Yesterday, my world seemed grey, and I hated it, I couldn't see any way out of the rut I was in. There seemed to be nothing. Today..." I spun around, "Today there seems to be colour, and light. I've seen things, things that I don't recognise in my dreams, things that go bump in the night. I've always written them off. Until today. Today I learnt that things do go bump in the night, but I've also learned that I can always bump back,"

He nodded, seemingly satisfied with the response that I had given, "That switch there," he pointed to it and I pulled it down, "Can he keep it down?" he looked at Rose,

"He's just had a shock," she explained, and the Doctor pointed to a button which I pressed.

"It happens to the best of us," he said, and unlike me, he rolled his eyes, clearly not having the patience to restrain himself from doing so. He walked around the console, pressing buttons and point to levers near me that I dutifully pulled down. The TARDIS grinded to a halt shuddering slightly, "There landed," Mickey immediately ran to the door opening it and stumbling out. I caught a glimpse of a street. Rose quickly ran after him.

I smiled at the Doctor, "Thank you," I said to him, "For everything, I wouldn't know where to start," I looked at the huge centre piece, "Bye," I whispered to the console, kissing my fingers and placing it on the console. Heat suddenly flooded through me and my smile grew wider, "Your ship is friendly," I told the man standing next to it, the warmth spreading though me. I stepped out of the TARDIS, running my hand over the wood as I stood next to Rose as she called Mum.

I didn't hear what she had said but the babble on the other end of the phone sounded panicked, and Rose laughed when she clicked the phone off. She nodded to me; Mum had been predictable as usual and was fine. I merely folded my arms, understanding. Rose walked to Mickey, "Fat lot of good you were," she said, he just whimpered, pointing at the TARDIS

I looked back and saw the Doctor, "Nestene Consciousness," he clicked his fingers, smug with himself, "Easy,"

Rose scoffed, laughing at him, "You were useless in there, both of you two," she answered to him, looking between the Doctor and me. I dug my hands in my pockets, looking up at the clear night sky. I could make out the tiny pinpricks of light, "You both would be dead if wasn't for me,"

"Yes, we would," the Doctor agreed with her, "Thank you, both of you," I smiled slightly, looking down at him again, "Right then, I'll be off…" he paused, one hand on the frame of the door, "Unless, I don't know, you could come with me?" he tapped the TARDIS, "This box isn't just a London hopper, you know, it goes anywhere in the universe free of charge,"

I was so tempted to. There was so much that I wanted to do, wanted to see. There was that bigger picture that I wanted to explore, that I needed to know. There was a whole universe that was waiting, and I wanted to be a part of it, "Don't," Mickey said, "He's an alien, he's a thing," I looked at him, knowing that Mickey was right about one thing. I couldn't leave everyone behind. Even though I wanted to. I couldn't leave Rose alone.

"He's not invited," the Doctor pointed at him, "What do you think?" Rose also looked torn. If she didn't go then I could. I couldn't leave the only person that meant something to be me, here on this world. Not when she thought that she should have come along, "You could stay here, fill your life with work and food and sleep or you could go anywhere."

"Is it always this dangerous?" Rose asked,

"Yep," he said, smiling brightly at that. What would a life be to live danger every single day like he did? There must be something for it. Something must make him return time and time again to wanting to live out danger completely. It was a life that I could lead.

"Yeah, I can't," she said, and I smiled sadly, knowing that I couldn't go with him, "We've got to go and find our mum, and someone's got to look after this stupid lump, so…" she looked very regretfully, "I can't,"

"Mary-Anne?" the Doctor asked, looking at me,

"Me?" I asked, laughing a little. I didn't look at him, "What you want with a silly thing like me?" I shook my head, "I can't leave her," I nodded to Rose, "She's the only think that means anything to me in this world. If she can't come, then..." I sighed, "Time immemorial,"

"Ok," he seemed to know that I wanted to so badly, but couldn't "See you around," I nodded shakily, and he nodded back. I was glad that he understood my reasoning. The Doctor stepped back and shut the door, and the familiar whooshing noise ran over me as the TARDIS dematerialised before our very eyes. I smiled at that, it literally did disappear before our very eyes, like he had said. What a wonderfully impossible man.

Rose also seemed very torn at the Doctor's leaving but she pulled herself together and looked at Mickey, "Come on," she sighed, picking her boyfriend up by the arm, "Let's go, come on," he couldn't move properly, still in shock. Rose slipped her hand in mine, "We made the right choice," she reminded me.

"Did we?" I asked her and she had no answer for that, "Let's go home," I answered for her and we walked towards the entrance of the alley.

Then there was a whooshing sound behind us and Rose and I immediately turned to see the TARDIS appearing where it had once stood. The door opened and the Doctor looked out, the same as ever, "By the way, did I also mention, it also travels in time?" he informed, smiling.

I looked at Rose, and saw that she had the same expression as me. One of completely happiness and surprise, "Mary-Anne," she looked at me, and I had the feeling that my full name was suddenly going to get quite popular in the coming months,

"Rose," I answered, holding her hand tightly. She smiled nodding and I looked behind me, "Bye Rickey," I told the boy behind me, "Don't wait up for us, we're going to be a while,"

Rose looked at her boyfriend and I smiled at her. She was convinced to be going with the Doctor, "Thanks," Rose said to him,

"Thanks for what?" he asked,

She laughed slightly, "Exactly," she said, and we ran towards the TARDIS and into its impossible interior. With the impossible man.

And our amazing future.


	6. The End of the World: Part 1

**So this is the beginning of the End of the World, tell me what you think.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

End of the World: Part 1

"Right then Tylers," the Doctor said, throwing and catching a ball as we ran into the TARDIS room, shutting the door behind me. I leapt up the stairs to lean on the console, as Rose joined up much more slowly, "You tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. It's your choice, what's it going to be?"

"Err," I smiled, knowing that I would never be able to choose where to go. I looked at my sister, "Rose, you choose, I'd spend years," I told her, waving a hand in her direction, "If we could go anywhere in time and space. Where would you go?"

She looked overwhelmed a little, "All right," she tapped the console in front of her, "Forwards,"

He placed a ball onto the console and flicked two switches. I wondered how long it had been since he had another person in here. It seemed so old but the Doctor only looked around forty so I was rather hesitant on how many years it had been for at least him. "How far?" he asked her.

Rose shook her head, plucking a number out of her mind, "One hundred years," she said and he rattled a wheel, the TARDIS rumbling slightly below us. I held on, not wanting to crash to the floor in any circumstances. I smiled at the console. I wondered if she was ever going to land smoothly, or whether she could.

He turned it off, "There you go," the Doctor said, holding his hand out, towards the doors, "Step outside those doors, it's the twenty second century,"

"You're kidding?" asked Rose, and I smiled at that. Imagine stepping out into the future not knowing where you were or where would could have possibly gone. That idea was more attractive that it really should have been but I couldn't help but anticipate doing just that.

"That's a bit boring though," the Doctor wrinkled his nose a little, at the prospect of the 22nd Century. Personally I didn't mind if we went further than the twenty second century, anything was good at the moment, "Do you want to go further?"

"Fine by me," I inputted, shrugging a little. If there was anything to be said by this method of travelling, it had to be this. It was brilliant, and there was something...childlike about the way that the Doctor was playing this game with us. It was like he was trying to test us into going as far as we would dare.

He grinned, turning the wheel harder, pumping the piston and turning the button again. The TARDIS shook as we headed further into the future. The Doctor switched the button off, again, "Ten thousand years in the future," he answered our silent question, "Step outside, it's the year 12005. The new Roman Empire,"

Rose laughed, shaking her head, like she didn't believe him, "You think you're so impressive," she said, laughing. I chuckled slightly; she was trying to goad him into doing something, going further. As far as we could have ever gone before.

"I am so impressive," he protested, straightening up slightly, looking mock affronted. I laughed at him, shaking my head. He was walking into this trap that Rose had set for him and although he probably had an idea on what she was trying to do, but he was playing along either way.

"You wish," she said, grinning at him wildly.

"Right," he grinned wickedly, and I smiled, at his playful behaviour, "You asked for it. I know exactly where to go," he turned the wheel faster, and the TARDIS shook even more violently, "Hold on," he bustled around us pumping the piston loudly, pulling different buttons and levers throughout the TARDIS console. I held on tightly as the ship rattled around a bit and then calmed.

"Where are we?" asked Rose. The Doctor merely held his hand out to gesture to us that we leave the TARDIS to see what lay outside.

I smiled, "Doctor," I asked, "What is out there?" he merely looked smug as he gestured towards the door, "Come on, Rosie," I grabbed her arm, moving both of us towards the door, "Let us take a very interesting look," We skipped outside and I gasped at the sight in front of me, a little disappointed, but so very different to what I was expecting. We had indeed moved, but where we were, I had no idea, "This is very interesting," I muttered.

"It's a room," Rose sounded a little mollified at the look of the room, "A room with a grille," And indeed we were in a room, with an iron-grey grill at the end. It was perfectly bizarre. It looked like it was all made up of different panels of wood. I couldn't see a door, but it was different.

"Well let's see then," I said, smiling at the Doctor who had just come out of the TARDIS. He went to the panel and buzzed it. The panel slowly came down and my mouth hung open with the sight that lay before us. Down before, beautiful and gigantic; lay the familiar sight of the earth that was my home. It looked almost exactly the same, with its blue oceans and green covered land. I had thought I would never get to see the Earth from this angle. It was wondrous.

The Doctor stopped next to us, "You lot," he smiled at the sight of it, "You spend all your time thinking about dying, like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids. But you never take the time to imagine the impossible- that maybe you survive," he looked impressed with himself, "This is the year 5.5/apple/26, five billion years into your future," That was a very nice number I supposed, a very very nice number if one would think about it.

"We're a long way from home then," I said softly, still staring at the Earth below us. I looked sideways and saw that Rose had the same expression on her face, "A very, very long way from earth,"

"And this is the day," the Doctor continued, looking at his watch, "Hold on-" Suddenly the sun exploded into red and yellow light. I blinked and shielded my eyes from the light of the red star. When I looked back at it, I noticed that the Sun had grown in size and I got a faint quiver of fear in my stomach. That didn't sound so good, "This is the day the Sun expands," the Doctor informed us, "Welcome to the end of the world," I looked sharply at him; the Earth was going to burn?


	7. The End of the World: Part 2

**So...(shuffles feet)...I'm alive. I can't believe it has been over a year. Well, that's embarrassing. I can't believe time has just slipped away like that. Hehe. Awkward. But I'm alive and my interest has arrived again for this story. Which is wonderful for my imagination.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. Not Now. Now Ever.**

"So..." I looked at both of them, "Are we going to have a look around then?" I asked, with a smile, "Seeing as the world's apparently going to end quite soon," I still couldn't quite believe it. We were on space ship that was above the Earth, on the day that the Sun planned to expand and roast everything down below.

"Come on," the Doctor gestured to us, "This way,"

We crossed to the door, opening the door and walking through into a long, narrow corridor, _"Shuttles Five and Six are now docking,"_ the intercom spoke over the loudspeakers, _"Guests are reminded that Platform One forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite,"_ I had to retrained myself from laughing at the speaker. It all seemed so ludicrous, and yet it was completely sincere in its tone of voice.

"Cheerful bunch, aren't they?" I said as we walked down the long stretch of corridor, all made up of the same wooden panels as the room, before I stopped and looked at the Doctor, "But when it means guests, it means people, right?" I needed clarification.

"Depends on what you mean by people," the Doctor said to me,

"She means people," Rose told him, "What do you mean?"

He smiled, "Aliens," I blinked slightly and then followed him again. I suppose it wasn't much of a stretch to think that far ahead. But remembered the Nestene and how that had ended up going disastrously wrong. If there were going to be aliens on this ship then I hoped that they would be nicer ones than the Nestene.

He arrived at another door. Rose leant on the door next to him, "But what are they doing on board this spaceship? What's it all for?"

He scanned the door, "It's not really a spaceship, more like an observation deck," he nodded, "For where the great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn," I felt uneasy at that. Despite everything, the Earth was still my home; I had grown up on that place. My mother lived there, five billion years ago, and I was expected to allow it to go up in flames? I didn't think so.

"What for?" she asked,

"Fun," he said,

I frowned again, "But they can't do that," I inquired, "Can they?" he looked at me, and I felt a slight panic invade me, "Ok, maybe they can."

The door opened into a huge atrium which a large glass window was stationed at the end. There were Roman pots and glass cases around the room, and I looked up to see more glass. If that smashed, then we'd be in trouble, "Mind you," the Doctor said and I looked at him, "When I say the 'great and the good', what I mean is the rich,"

I raised a hand as we went towards the glass window, "When you say the Earth is going to explode. I know about this, it takes centuries to even get the Sun to expand enough to burn the Earth. So how is it going to do that in," I checked my watch, "Thirty five minutes? It's impossible,"

"It takes millions," the Doctor agreed, "But the planet's now belong to the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved,"

"Seriously?" I asked, before looking back at the planet down below us, "They've finally achieved their main mission in life then. Ownership of the earth,"

"Yeah," he said, and then pointed into the distance, "See down there, gravity satellites holding back the Sun,"

Rose frowned as well, "The planet looks the same as ever. I thought all the continents shifted," she gestured with her hands,

He nodded, "They did," he informed us, "And the Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth," he sighed, "But now the money's run out, nature takes over," he seemed very happy at this point, which worried me immensely.

"And it's got half an hour," I added stressing the point.

"Yep," he said, "Then the planet gets roasted," he smiled happily.

Rose looked at him, "Is that why we're here?" she asked, wanting to know what he was up to, flying us here of all places, "I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?"

He looked at her carefully, "I'm not saving it, times up," he informed us,

"But," I hastened to add in my comment, "There are people down there. The Earth has to have some kind of population,"

"No," he shook his head, "It's empty. They've all gone. No one left," he still seemed very happy.

Rose looked back at the Earth, "Just us then," she said, and I returned to look at the earth, feeling suddenly very alone. The two human left on a spaceship that was miles above our planet and having no way of saving it from nature's course.

"Who the hell are you?" asked a voice behind us and we all whirled around and I blinked at the sight of a blue man dressed in some very interesting clothes. Not that I had anything against blue men in strange clothes. But he was blue,

"Oh that's nice," the Doctor said sarcastically, "Thanks,"

"But how did you get in?" the man asked, striding towards us with something in his hand, "This is a maximum hospitality zone, the guests have already disembarked. They're on their way any second," he sounded panicked at the sight of us. I shifted from foot to foot. We weren't guests on this ship...thing, how on earth were we going to explain this to the man. I was fairly sure the Doctor didn't have a ticket.

The Doctor held up a wallet where a blank paper stared up at us, "Yeah, that's me, I'm a guest," he answered, waving it around at the man, "Look, got an invitation. Look there, you see, it's fine," I stared at the paper, seeing that it was totally blank, "See? The Doctor, plus two. I'm the Doctor; this is Rose and Mary-Anne Tyler. They're my plus two. Is that all right?"

The man looked blankly at us, clearly taken aback, "Well, obviously," he finally said, "Apologies, etcetera," the Doctor nodded, smartly, "If you're on board, then we'd better start," he smiled at us slightly, "Enjoy," he walked away to a stand that was stationed by the door.

"Let me have a look at that," I asked the Doctor and he showed it to me, "It's blank," I answered in surprise, staring at it and touching the paper slightly, "Why did he think that it was an invitation, if it's blank?" I couldn't understand it,"

"The paper's slightly psychic," the Doctor explained, "It shows them whatever I want them to see," he closed it and placed it back in his pocket, "Saves a lot of time trying to explain to people why we're here. We'd be kicked off otherwise. Saves paper as well,"

"He's blue," said Rose, and I looked at her, not really understanding what she was talking about. Then I looked at the Steward again. He was blue, but that wasn't anything to stare at, "Ok," she let out a breath, nothing slightly. I shot a smile at her which appeared to reassure her.

"We have in attendance the Doctor, and Rose and Mary-Anne Tyler. Thank you. All staff to their positions," a bunch of blue children with heavy black helmets came scuttling out of nowhere, "Hurry now, quick as you can. Come along, come along," most of them disappeared down the hallway with two saying by the door, "And now might I introduce the next honoured guest? Representing the Forest of Cheam we have trees, namely Jade, Lute and Coffa," the door opened on three people which looked like trees. Their hair was like bark with flowers twined in-between, "There will be an exchange of gifts, representing peace," the man said, "And if you could keep the room circulated, thank you," the trees walked towards us, "Next from the solicitors: Jolco and Jolco, we have the Moxx of Balhoon," a small man in a chair with rather nasty teeth appeared, "From the Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Mean,"

A cluster of people with black hood over their faces appeared, "They look like you wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of them," I muttered to Rose and she looked sharply at me.

"Next," the man said, "The inventors of the Hypo-Slip Travel Systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen...Cal Spark Plug," a range of aliens appeared through the doors of the observation deck, "Mr and Mrs Pacoon...the ambassadors from the city state of Binding Light,"

The trees stopped in front of us and the woman called Jade smiled at us, "The gift of peace," she said, picking up a plant, "A cutting of my Grandfather," she handed it to the Doctor. I looked at it carefully, it was just a usual plant. But it was a part of someone.

"Thank you," the Doctor replied, "Yes. Gifts," he patted himself hurriedly, "Err, I give you in return, air from my lungs," he blew a stream of air towards her and I felt faintly amused.

She breathed in, "How...intimate," she said, and I mentally snorted. Who knew trees could be so...flirtatious.

He grinned, "There's more where that came from," he quipped,

"I bet there is," she replied and smiled as they moved on. The Doctor handed me the plant and I looked at it carefully. It just looked like a twig to me, but if it was someone's grandfather. I cradled it slightly.

The man on the stand started up again, "From the Silver Devastation, the sponsor of the main event, please welcome the Face of Boe," the doors opened again and a large glass case rumbled through with a gianormous head in it. I just blinked, I didn't think commenting would really help the situation.

The Moxx of Balhoon trundled up to us in his vehicle, "The Moxx of Balhoon," the Doctor said, spreading his coat wide.

"My felicitations upon this historical happenstance," he said in a high pitched voice, surprising me, "I bring you the gift of bodily saliva," he spat and Rose flinched as the spit went in her eye,

"Thank you very much," the Doctor grinned,

I held out a tissue to Rose, "Want it?" I asked, and she just snatched it from me quickly, wiping her eye. I tried not to smile.

The Mean people walked up to us, "Ahh the Adherents of the Repeated Mean," the Doctor said, "I bring you, air from my lungs," he exhaled harshly, trying to get all of them in.

A silver knarled hand rose up to us, holding a silver ball, "A gift of peace, in all good faith," they spoke together in a deep voice. I shivered slightly, they were creepy. The Doctor took the silver ball, throwing it to me. I caught it and looked at it, just a ball. Nice.

"And now," the man spoke up, "Last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and gentlemen and trees and multiforms...consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying planet, we call forth the last human," the doors opened and I craned to see, "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien. Delta Seventeen," a frame came out and I stared at the stretched skin that seemed to have eyes and a mouth. That was the last human?

"Oh now," the trampoline said, "Don't stare. I know, I know, it's shocking, isn't it?" I wondered how she could talk. I could see straight through her! "I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference," the Doctor laughed, and I stared at him, "Look how thin I am, thin and dainty," I suppressed the urge to say that she couldn't walk, "I don't look a day over two thousand," I really was going a little bit mad, "Moisture me, moisture me," the two men on either side of her sprayed her with nozzles, "Truly I am the last human," Rose wandered around, looking at Cassandra. She looked like she was having the same trouble as I was, "My father was a Texan, my mother from the Arctic Circle. They were born on the Earth and they were the last to be buried in its soil. I have come to honour them and to say goodbye,"

"Laying it a bit thick," I muttered to myself, and the Doctor looked at me sharply, "Doesn't matter," I smiled tightly and went back to staring at Cassandra,

"No tears," she looked like she was tearing up, "No tears, I'm sorry," one of the men standing next to her dabbed at her eyes, "But behold," she said, "I bring gifts," a small blue child came out holding an egg, "From Earth itself, the last remaining ostrich egg. Legend has it that it had a wing span of fifty feet, and blew fire from its nostrils," I slightly laughed at that, "Or was that my third husband? No don't laugh, I'll get laughter lines," another thing was dragged out and I smiled at the jukebox, "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an I-Pod. It stores classical music from humanities greatest composers. Play on!" a CD was played and the Doctor laughed as Tainted Love started playing.

"Refreshments are now served," said the Steward man, "Earth death in thirty minutes,"

I frowned as I watched Rose get more uncomfortable in the room with everyone in it. I felt slightly the same with everything being all a bit claustrophobic. I quickly walked over to her and dragged her out of the room, where she was feeling a little uncomfortable, "Thanks," she whispered,

"Come on," I said, "Go get some air," I smiled at her, "I'm going back in, I want to have a little more of a look around the place,"

She merely nodded and I smiled as I walked back inside, "Is Rose all right?" the Doctor asked me,

I shrugged, "She needs some air," I said to her, "It's a little bit of a culture shock to her I think. She just needs a couple of minutes, I'm sure she will be fine,"

He studied me, "What about you?" he asked me, "How are you handling it?"

"Fine," I said quickly, and he blinked, "Ok, maybe not fine, exactly. It's rather a lot to handle to be perfectly honest and in such a short space of time. Especially with the trampoline over there. It's a lot at once, but I'll be fine,"

"Sure?" he asked,

"Oh yeah," I nodded, not sure if I was trying to convince myself or him, "Cause it's brilliant, everything here. Really shows you how and what the world will come to in a few billion years. I mean, I'm dead now, but it's all right," I shrugged, "Should we find Rose now?"

"Good point," he said and we headed towards the door again.

"Doctor," Jade approached us and we turned towards her. There was a flash and a couple of beeps, "Thank you," The Doctor merely nodded and we headed out of the room and into the corridor.

"_Would the owner of the blue box in Private Gallery Five please report to the Steward's office immediately?"_ the Steward came on the P.A. system,_ "All guests are reminded that the use of teleportation devices are strictly forbidden,"_

"Are you going to go?" I asked him,

"No," he said, and we rounded a corner where the small children were moving the TARDIS, "Oi now, careful with that, park it properly, no scratches," a small blue children walked up to us and handed the Doctor a ticket. I looked at it, 'Have a Nice Day'

"Well they're polite," I said, and we walked along the corridor. I knocked on a door, "Rose, are you in there?" I looked at the Doctor, "Try your screwdriver," he buzzed it and the door opened, "There you are," I went to sit down next to her and smiled at her slightly.

"Aye, aye," the Doctor sat on the other side of the ledge, "What do you think then?" he asked her,

"Great," she said, it was a little forced, "Yeah, fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper," he laughed and we lapsed into silence, which was quickly growing awkward with every second. "They're just so alien," she clarified, "The aliens are so alien. You look at them, and they're alien," she couldn't wrap her head around that fact.

The Doctor didn't look that impressed, "Good thing I didn't take you to the Deep South," he quipped,

She leaned back, "Where are you from then?" she asked him, and I knew that was probably the wrong thing to ask him at this moment in time. A shadow had passed over his face and he wasn't meeting either one of us' eyes.

"All over the place," he excused, and I could tell that he was covering up something.

I had to get a point across, "They all speak English," I told him, "In five billion years, wouldn't English have become defunct. It can't have stayed the same for all this time. At the very least there should have been a type of dialect and I refuse to believe that English has become the universal language. All those different people, different species. They can't all talk the same language.

"No," he shook his head, "You just hear English. It's a gift of the TARDIS; the telepathic field gets inside your brain and translates it for you,"

Rose held up a finger, freezing at the sound of that information, "It's inside our brains?" she asked,

"Well in a good way," he said,

"Your machine gets inside our head and changes our minds and you didn't even ask?" she said,

"Rose, it's all right," I said to her,

"I didn't think about it like that," he said,

"Nah, you were too busy thinking up cheap shots about the Deep South," she snapped violently, the wall finally breaking down and she had to get her point across. Something had happened, when she had disappeared off and she seemed to have only just realised that we had known the Doctor for the total of three days. She was panicking at this, "Who are you then, Doctor? What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

"I'm just the Doctor," he dismissed, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"From what planet?" she asked, her voice growing

He scoffed, "Well it's not like you'll know where it was,"

"Where are you from?"

"What does it matter?"

"Tell us who you are!" she shouted

The Doctor's patience snapped, "This is who I am, right here; right now. All that counts is here and now and this is me!" he shouted back at her and I ran my hands through my hair, not wanting to get into this conversation. I seemed to be the third wheel, not really adding anything to the conversation but not exactly out of it either.

"Yeah and we're here too because you brought us here. So just tell us!" she snapped.

This was now getting awkward.


	8. The End of the World: Part 3

**New Chapter in three days, if I hadn't been away for so long then I would be impressed with myself. I'm just trying to make up for lost time.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine.**

I watched carefully as the Doctor pushed himself away from the stone steps. I shifted awkwardly. I never was very good with arguments, "I think I'm..." I started but they both ignored me. I turned around, walking away from them, opening the door and letting it shut behind me. I wasn't going to get into that conversation.

"_Earth death in twenty minutes,"_ I looked at the speaker grill, frowning slightly, _"Earth death in twenty minutes,"_

"You really know how to cheer a girl up," I murmured, walking quickly along the corridor, "The earth is going to be roasted and we're on a spaceship a few miles above it and..." I turned into the main room where the guests were milling around, talking together, "We're eating canapés and talking about the latest alien scandal. I don't know whether to be amused or worried for my sanity,"

I walked further into the room, the feeling of being insignificant compared to them growing with every step. There had been no official indicator of the existence of aliens in the 21st Century and here now in the year 5.3/crumble/apple or something along those lines, aliens were part of every day life. It made me ponder on how much the whole structure of society had changed. Or when aliens were proven to exist.

"The twenty first century," I turned to my left to see the Face of Boe, floating in his glass case, "That was when everything changed," I raised an eyebrow, "You were looking at everyone with an expression of mixed admiration and curiosity. I couldn't help but guess what your questions were,"

"You know me?" I inquired, "I'm sure we've never met. Almost certain of it," I cleared my throat as we walked to the large window, "However you can be assured that you were right in what I was thinking,"

"We've met a few times before," he answered in his slow voice, and I merely blinked. I didn't question him, just returned to look at the slowing turning Earth down below us, "It's an amazing sight, is it not?" I sighed, nodding slightly, "And completely empty,"

"Everything dies in the end," I shrugged, "Just a pity it had to happen today. End of the world and all. All that history bundled up in one tiny planet. It's not even considered to be that big. But it's always been there," I bit my bottom lip, before turning my head, "Have you ever been down there?"

His huge head nodded calmly, "Oh yes, a long time ago now," he informed me, "Back when it wasn't all under the National Trust," I smiled a little at that. I still found that amusing, "But perhaps it is time for the Earth to die, in order for us to not be chained to the past," I didn't say anything, just dug my hands deeper into my pockets, "Your friends seem to be missing the party,"

"Oh them," I looked behind me, "Yes, they had an argument, and well...I didn't want to get involved so I stepped out for a while," I turned back, "Arguments aren't exactly my strong point, I just let them get on with it. They've probably made up by now and all will be forgiven," Suddenly whole ship shuddered violently and I placed a hand on the glass in order to prevent myself from falling over. I frowned, looking at him, "Is that meant to happen?"

"I don't believe so," the whole case moved around in a smooth circle, looking at the other guests which seem to not have noticed the sudden gravity shake, "It doesn't seem to have disturbed the rest of us,"

"That doesn't make it all right," I murmured,

The speaker once again crackled in and the voice of the Steward came online, _"Guests may be assured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence,"_ I didn't feel assured by his announcement.

"I wonder," I said and looked around the room, before seeing the Doctor and Rose walk in through the doors, "There's my friend, it was nice talking to you," I told the Face of Boe before walking quickly over to them, "Did you feel that shudder?" they both nodded, "The Steward says it's nothing but gravity pockets but..."

"It wasn't meant to happen," the Doctor said, and went to the control panel by the side of the door, "That wasn't a gravity pocket, I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that," I leant on the wall next to him, seeing the plant woman from before walking up to us, "What do you think, Jabe? Listen to the engines; they've pitched up about thirty hertz. Is that dodgy or what?"

She looked completely bemused, "It's the sound of metal, it doesn't make sense to me," she explained.

"Do you know where the engine room is?" I asked her, and she looked at me, shaking her head.

"I don't know," she told me, before looking up in realisation, "But the maintenance duct is just behind our guest suite," she looked at the Doctor, "I could show you and your..." she looked at Rose and I, "Wives?" I folded my arms, "Partners,"

"Nope," the Doctor said,

"Concubines?" she continued, and I looked at her with naked bewilderment. Where did she come up with these ideas, "Prostitute?"

"Hey!" I inputted here, and she turned to look at me, "Whatever we are...we're invisible," I shook my head in slight wonderment, "Five billion years and it still comes down to sex," Rose elbowed me, her face not particularly happy about being labelled as a prostitute, "Well, it's true,"

She breathed in deeply, controlling her temper easily, "Tell you what," she proposed, "Why don't you three go and..." she looked at Jabe, "Pollinate. I'll stay here...catch up with the family," she nodded in the direction of the Trampoline, "Word with Michael Jackson,"

"Don't start a fight," the Doctor warned her and I mentally smiled. He seemed to have got Rose's personality down to the ground. I placed my hands in my pockets, as he looked at me, "We seem to have a date with the maintenance duct,"

"So we do," I echoed quietly, following Jabe and him out of the room with a warning to be back by midnight coming from Rose. I quickly caught up with both of them, just as the Doctor pressed the screwdriver up against the panel. The speaker came on again to inform us that the Earth would be toast in fifteen minutes, "I wish that they wouldn't keep doing that," I said lightly, "It makes me feel slightly on edge," the panel opened, "Here we go,"

Jabe looked ready to protest at the sight of the wiring coming from the cramped corridor behind the wall, "Now then, Doctor, Miss..." she trailed off on my name and I didn't volunteer the information for her. She pressed on, "That's far enough. You know full well that we're not allowed inside,"

"You are the one that brought us here," I told her, "Therefore it's on your head that we're here,"

"Only to look," she said, "It says specifically in the guidelines that guests are supposed to stay inside the Luxury Quarters. Forgive me when I say this, but that corridor isn't part of the Luxury Quarters," I could tell that she wasn't exactly used to breaking the rules.

Neither apparently did the Doctor, "Oh come on, break a few rules," he proposed.

"I'm a royal branch of the Forest," she said dignified. That was supposed to obviously mean something to me but the reference merely flew over my head, "I do have a reputation to maintain. I could get into a lot of trouble for this,"

"And that," I said slowly, "No doubt get's very boring, very quickly, so all the more reason to stop protesting and start doing," I smiled winningly, "Come on, live a little. I want to see what's going on the engines,"

"Are you trying to make me a lawbreaker?" she inquired.

"You must have been a sapling once," the Doctor waved a hand, "Blowing in the breeze, sneaking outside the orchard, hanging out with all the bad flowers, remember what it was like?" she stared at him, "Let's have some fun," he smiled at her, "Or, you can stay her and vegetate," he looked briefly at me and I cocked my head, "What d'you think?" I looked back at Jabe, who seemed to have made up her mind as in the next second she had stepped through into the small corridor, "Here we go,"

I stepped into the maintenance duct, coughing slightly at the smell and the dust that the duct contained, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but how exactly does this ship function?" I asked Jade as we started to make out way down the route, in a single line. It wasn't wide enough for more than one person, "We met the Steward, but isn't there a flight crew or something actually flying this...vessel? Who's in charge if anything goes wrong?"

"No," she looked at me, "There's just the Steward and the Staff," she smiled lightly; seemingly at ease with this information, "The rest is controlled by the metal mind...the computer," she clarified when she saw my puzzled face.

"The computer?" the Doctor looked back at both of us, "Who controls that?"

"The corporation," she answered easily. I was still concerned with her lack of unease about the way the whole ship was run, "The corporation move Platform One from one artistic event to another," I felt affronted that the burning and death of Planet Earth was considered to be 'artistic'

"But there is no one from the corporation on board?" the Doctor seemed to have the same worry as I did. No one from the corporation was on board Platform One, there seemed to be something wrong with the structure of the vessel if there had been gravity pockets, and it was being controlled by a computer. I prided myself on knowing rather a reasonable amount about computers, and the main thing that always stood out was that computers, though useful, could be incredibly unreliable at time.

But apparently Jabe didn't share this sentiment, as she smiled winningly and said, "They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic, it's the height of the Alpha Class," that was also apparently meant to mean something to us, "Nothing can do wrong,"

"Unsinkable?" the irony was almost too much to bear.

"You could say so," she replied. Apparently the irony was lost on Jabe as she continued to smile in a way that was quickly threatening to get on my nerves. I just couldn't understand why she couldn't see that because the whole spaceship was on automatic, that it was invincible, "The nautical metaphor is appropriate for this vessel,"

The Doctor laughed, "You're telling me," he answered, "I was on board another ship; they said that was unsinkable. I ended up clinging to an iceberg, wasn't half cold," I stared at him in fascination. He had been aboard the Titanic. It was so easy to forget that he wasn't human, that he had a time machine, and that he had lived for nearly a thousand years. If he passed me on the street, before all this had happened, then I wouldn't have paid him the slightest bit of interest. But he was all those things, and sometimes, such as now, it was a struggle having to totally comprehend that idea in my brain.

I immediately pulled myself back to the present, and cleared my throat loudly. They both looked at me, "Tell me I'm correct in saying that, if something goes wrong, then there is no one on board that can help us out of the potential mess?" I inquired, smiling slightly worriedly, "Taking into account that we are currently floating above a planet that is due to burn in..." I checked my watch, "Fourteen minutes?"

Now Jabe did show a level of concern. That was useful, "I'm afraid not," she said and I took a deep breath in, calming myself, before smiling slightly. Life seemed to never be boring when with the Doctor.

"Fantastic," the Doctor not surprisingly seemed to enjoy that prospect.

Now Jabe looked confused, "I don't understand," she followed the Doctor, "In what way is that fantastic?" I silently hid a smile behind my hand as I followed after him down what seemed to be like the longest tunnel of wires in the whole of the space station.

"Oh, I'm not one for swanning around with delegates and cocktails," the Doctor answered her, "Bit of trouble, just my thing," he took a quick glance at me, "And it seems to be a habit of Mary-Anne's as well," I grinned slightly.

"That's a very strange attitude," she said aloud,

"We're very strange people," he replied and silence reigned over all three of us. Eventually the Doctor broke the quiet, changing the subject swiftly, "So," he looked at the tree woman, "What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?"

She cocked her head slightly, "Respect for the earth," she answered, "Why else?"

"Oh come on," the Doctor seemed to be less than satisfied with that answer, "Everyone gathered on this Platform is worth zillions. I know you lot, you have to be seen at the right occasions, just in case your share prices drop. Your lot have got massive forests, roots all over the place and there is always money in land," I refrained from saying anything, it was interesting to hear about what it was like on...other planets.

"All the same," Jabe was quick to defend her reason of being on Platform One, "We respect the Earth, as family. So many species evolved from that place, mankind was just one, I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the forest down below. I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest," I blinked at that. I had assumed that she was a cross between a human and a tree, not just the evolution of a tree.

The Doctor stopped next to a panel, taking out his sonic screwdriver, placing it against the blue screen, "Excuse me," he told us, and I hummed lightly to myself, looking at the wires across from us, "Hold on..."

"And what about your ancestry, Doctor?" Jabe asked, "Perhaps you could tell a story or two," I looked at the Doctor, frowning slightly. He had never said where the others of his species were. All I knew that he was incredibly lonely, and that wasn't saying much, "Perhaps a man only enjoys trouble, when...there's nothing else left," I looked ahead, not wanting to hear this but also desperately wanting to hear more, "I scanned you earlier," there was no reply from the Doctor, and Jabe pushed on, "The metal machine had trouble identifying your species. It refused to admit your existence. And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right...I know where you're from,"

I could tell this was an extremely touchy subject. The Doctor's hand were still, and he seemed to look at nothing and yet...I got the feeling that he saw everything, everything that Jabe was saying. He had been alone, my feeling had been correct. But whatever had happened was something clearly so troubling and so...terrible, that I would not have been able to put words to it.

"Forgive me for intruding," Jabe carried on, "But it's remarkable you even exist. I just wanted to say...how sorry I am,"

He looked towards her, and I could see only pain and anguish in his eyes. But I couldn't look away. There was something in his gaze that made you want to look, and, heaven help me, I couldn't help but want to know much more about this strange man and his little wooden box.

**Review and you shall be rewarded...with another chapter. Thank you for all those that reviewed last time. You all made my day brighter.**


	9. The End of the World: Part 4

**I'm back. I've rewritten the first six chapters, so I'm now carrying on. Essentially the story is the same, just tidied up. It has not been abandoned.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

Even as the Doctor moved on, I still felt strange. It was like I had seen part of him that was always hidden away for a good reason, and now that I had seen it, nothing could really go back to the way things were. It was like the surreal feeling I had started to get used to, but seemed like it was so much more...personal. I knew that the Doctor wouldn't become so vulnerable in a matter of seconds over a trivial issue, one that didn't matter. This matter could only be the result of something so...momentous, that the only way to ever find out what it truly was about, was to have the Doctor tell it to me himself. So I simply attempted to move past that issue. He would tell me if he wanted to tell me, and there was nothing I would be able to do to change that.

I stepped through into the engine room, silently impressed at the vast turbines that were whirring around inside the room. The fans were bigger than a house, and they were blasting a wave of cold air right towards us. I pulled my coat closer towards me. For the first time today, I wished that I had worn something a little warmer. Luckily for them, neither the Doctor nor Jabe looked remotely cold. Either it had something to do with alien acclimatisation or I was just being a bit wimpy. I hoped it was the first.

As if he had heard my thoughts, the Doctor looked towards us, "Is it me or is it a bit nippy?" he inquired and I shot him a glare, bouncing on my toes a little to keep warm, "Fair do's though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Nice and old fashioned," he walked towards yet another panel in the wall. I wondered how many panels this whole space station had, "I bet they call it retro," there was a scuttling as he opened it, and I leapt back as a spiderlike creature came running out towards me. I kicked it sharply, "Hey!"

I looked at him, "Sorry," I answered, "I don't like spiders," I looked at the metal spider hurtled up the walls, and swallowed, "Especially spiders that big," I took several steps back, positioning myself behind the other two. I considered it to be quite cowardly, but if that spider was to come down again, then I would be better placed for it to not come near me, "Do you know what it's doing here?"

"A better question would be, what the hell is it?" the Doctor looked at it as if fascinated.

Jabe looked confused at the sight of the metal-like spider contraption, "I don't understand," she asked, "Is it part of the retro?" I raised an eyebrow, before lowering it again. To me, a metal scuttling spider was considered to be better than cutting edge. Retro was a telephone that a dial on the front. I suppose that in the year five billion, everything was shifted. Mobile phones and iPods were now...prehistoric items. Just another way to make me feel lost in this new world.

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't think so," he replied, aiming his sonic screwdriver at it, "Hold on," he buzzed at it, the frequency changing rapidly as the spider scuttled to and fro, avoiding the glare of the instrument. Jabe took a step back, and I moved out of the way as she raised her arm, shooting a thin leafy vine up towards the ceiling. It managed to catch the spider with a loud crack and I caught the metal contraption, looking at it, "Hey nice liana,"

"Thank you," Jabe blushed slightly, "I'm not supposed to show them in public," I turned back to look at the thing in my hands. It was like a spider, however it was metal, had three legs and a single eye.

"Don't worry," the Doctor reassured Jabe, "I won't tell anyone," they both looked at me and I shrugged lightly, not personally bothering about the liana myself but accepting that I was not going to tell anyone about it. I found it faintly impressive, "Now," I handed the spider over to him and he started buzzing at it again, "Who's been bringing their pets on board?"

"It's not meant to be here?" I asked him and he looked pointedly up at me, "What does it do?"

"Sabotage," he said simply and I nodded calmly, inwardly feeling a rush of adrenaline at the easy word. The speaker came on yet another time to announce that there were ten minutes left until the Earth exploded. I checked my watch, setting it accurately, before meeting the Doctor's eye, "The temperature's about to rocket..." he was already moving, "Come on, you two,"

I was walking quickly after him as we ducked through the long corridor of wires and plugs that we had just travelled down. I wrinkled my nose as the smell of burning flesh assaulted me when we emerged from the maintenance duct, and as we turned the corner, I took a step back at the steam that issued from a room, light blasting its way through. Droves of little blue children were crying and banging on the door as we approached it and the Doctor immediately went to the panel door, "Is the Steward in there?" I asked, seeing the little message on the door.

"You can smell him," he answered, and I looked up at the speakers, wincing as I heard Britney Spears blasting through them, "Hold on, there's another sun filter programmed to descend in a minute," I immediately took off after him as he reached another door with someone banging on the door, "Anyone in there?"

"Let me out," my head snapped up when I heard Rose's voice on the other side, and I immediately tried the handle. It was locked.

"It would be you," the Doctor murmured, scanning the panel rapidly, "Hold on, give us two ticks," I tried to force the door open, but it was firmly wedged shut, "Not going to work, those doors are thick steel. I doubt that even with both of us together, we could make the door open," I shot a glare at him, "I'm working as hard as I can,"

I returned to bang on the door, frantic to get my sister out of being barbequed. The P.A came back on announcing the sun filters ascent and I sighed, slumping against the door. I looked at the Doctor, opening my mouth to thank him when the sun filter started descending again. Immediately I returned banging on the door again, "Doctor..." I said, panic showing through my voice, "Doctor, what is going on. Why aren't the sun filters working?"

"Just what we needed, the computer's getting smart," he answered, before looking up at me, "I will get her out," he continued on working through the different wires.

"Rose," I spoke to my older sister through the door, "Rose, we're just trying to get it working again," her banging just became louder, and I could hear the hiss and crackle of heat searing the walls within the room, "Rose, we're going to get you out. We're trying to open the door," I was attempting to make my voice sound calm, but it was doubtful that I sounded like I wanted to. I turned back to the Doctor who was ripping apart the wall to get at the wires within, "Stop mucking about!"

"I'm not mucking about," he protested, "The computer's fighting back, I am trying to open the door!" I sighed, grabbing the screwdriver and sticking it in the wires as far as it could go, before pressing the button. There was a sudden spark, and I grinned as I heard the speaker's voice proclaiming the now ascending sun filters. I handed the Doctor back his screwdriver, "That was rather lucky," I didn't say anything but felt rather sheepish at the fact that I had short wired the fuses in the panel. I turned back to the door, pushing at it and expecting that it would open.

It remained shut.

"The whole thing is jammed," I said, kicking it loudly, "Lock's melted. Damn," I tried to peer through the frosted glass, seeing Rose on the other side trying to open it from that end, "We can't open the door! It's stuck," she glared at me, "It's not my fault," the Doctor was quickly looking at the wires, before shaking his head at me and gesturing towards the corridor, "Hold on, we'll be back in a second. Don't go anywhere, don't even move," I quickly followed the Doctor, hearing a muffled shout behind me, "Do you know who put her in there. Rose wouldn't have done that willingly,"

"I know," he told me, and looked down, his face slightly grim, "But I think I have an idea about who might have put her in there," we entered the main room to a loud argument about the metal spiders. Accusations were being thrown around quickly and easily by the different factions. I merely raised an eyebrow at them, going to stand next to the Face of Boe, the only one that appeared to be of any intelligence in this witch hunt. He felt safe, somehow. As if I had known him a long time ago. Well...he had informed me that we had met before. Perhaps that was why.

The Doctor was standing in the corner, playing around with the metal spider, and he quickly commanded the room when he spoke. So strange...he could be friendly and kind one second and yet he could appear to be imposing and dominating when he wanted to be. He practically demanded attention. A faint thought of who was the real Doctor crossed my mind before fading away as he held the spider up, "There's an easy way of finding out who's trying to sabotage this ship," he announced, "Someone brought their little pet's on board," he placed it down, the thing immediately running around the room, "Let's send him back to master,"

I watched as the spider ran across the room, going towards the human trampoline. I looked at Cassandra, as did everyone. Then there was a moment's pause and the spider moved on over to the cowl covered people at the far end of the room. They certainly looked the part of being in a plot to infiltrate the whole of Platform One. But one look at the Doctor's face showed that the situation was a little different to what it appeared to be.

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme," Cassandra was the one to break the silence in the wake of the spider, "J'accuse!"

The Doctor walked forward, smiling sarcastically, "That's all very well and really kind of obvious..." he stated, "But if you stop and think about it," he walked up to the hooded figures, the leader suddenly swinging at him. He caught the arm swiftly, breaking it off. I stared at the wires and tubing attached to the claw. It didn't look real, "A repeated meme is just an idea, and that's all they are..." he ripped a tube off, and the Meme's collapsed an empty space where the bodies should have been, "An idea,"

"So you're saying they were remote control...droids?" I spoke up, aware that everyone's eyes had suddenly turned to me. It was unsettling. The Doctor nodded, "But if they're not real, and the spider..." I jerked my head in the spider's direction, "Isn't really under their command. Then that makes the Memes a cover for the real person who's been causing the trouble. Which should mean..." I watched as the spider clicked its way over to Cassandra, looking up at us almost innocently, "Why am I not surprised? The Human Trampoline,"

The trampoline in question was sneering at both me and the Doctor, "I bet you both were the school swot's and never got kissed," she snarled at us. I opened my mouth to reply when the two surgeons by her side raised the nozzles they were carrying, "At arms!"

The Doctor looked less than impressed at the sight of the men, "What are you going to do?" he said, placing his hands on his chest mockingly, "Moisturise me?" I had to admit, they didn't look particularly threatening.

"With acid," Cassandra informed us coldly, and the smile dropped from my face, "You're far too late anyway. My spiders have control of the mainframe," she made a little surprised face, "Oh you carried them as gifts, tax-free, past every code wall, every level," she appeared to shrug, "I'm not just a pretty face,"

"Not an intelligent one either," I folded my arms, and she glared at me, "Forgive me if I'm wrong, but you're trapped on this ship, just like the rest of us. You've sabotaged Platform One when you're on it yourself. How clever were you feeling when you came up with that brilliant plan, because I've seen better from a five year old,"

She sighed, "I had hoped to manufacture a hostage situation. With myself as one of the victims, of course, the compensation would have been enormous," I felt disgusted at how callous she was being. All this work, and it was all because she wanted some more money.

The Doctor was thinking along the same lines as me, "Five billions years..." he scoffed, "And it all comes down to money,"

"Do you think it's cheap looking like this?" Cassandra asked, "Flatness cost's a fortune, I need a complete skin transplant, and I'm growing clones in my cellar. They're just waiting to be peeled," I felt slightly sickened at the sound of that. "I am the Last Human, Doctor, not those...freaky little children of yours," I stiffened at the insult, somehow it seemed more rude coming from a piece of skin, stapled to a mere frame.

The Moxx of Balhoon decided to input his say here, declaring to "Arrest her! The infidel!"

"Shut it, pixie!" Cassandra was quick to put down that idea, "I've still got my final option," I looked at my clock, seeing that there was only three minutes left until the Earth was going to explode, "And here it comes," she laughed, looking around the room at the different aliens that had gathered here, "You're all as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies, they'll triple in price as soon as you're gone. My spiders were primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How does that Old Earth Song go? Burn, baby burn,"

"Then you'll burn with us!" Jabe was quick to retort.

Cassandra only laughed, "Well, yes..." she chuckled even more, "Ohh, but I'm sorry, I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but..." I stumbled back when she was suddenly bathed in blue light, "I'm such a naughty thing," she turned serious, "Spiders...activate!" I took a step back when the spider in front of us exploded. The whole station seemed to tilt slightly with the force of the spiders being blown up, "Force field's gone," the trampoline informed us gleefully, "With the planet set to explode. At least it'll be quick, just like my fifth husband," I couldn't wrap my head around her wanting to make jokes at a time like this. Immediately the temperature had gotten hotter, "Oh shame on me," she was disappearing, and I moved forward, "Bye bye, my darlings, bye, bye,"

I skidded through where Cassandra had been, feeling nothing but air. She had teleported, from the middle of the floor to who knows where. I looked up at the Doctor, "There has to be a way to reset the whole computer," I said to him, "I used to do it at home all the time. Just rest it completely," I remembered that Rose was still stuck upstairs, "Can't we do that?"

"Only the Steward would know how," Jabe told me, but I kept my eyes on the Doctor who was thinking.

"No," he nodded at me, "There's another way, we could do it by hand. There's got to be a system restore switch," he was running out the door, with Jabe and I following him, "Come on, you two..." he looked back at the room full of panicking aliens, "You lot, just chill,"

I put an arm on his and he turned towards me, "I have to find where Rose is," I said to him, and he nodded, "Just in case something happens in there, she's going to need some help getting out as well," I suddenly hugged him tightly, "I know you'll get it done," I told him before looking at Jabe, feeling a sadness wash over me. I pulled her into a hug, sensing her surprise, "We didn't know each long, but I'm glad to have met you," she frowned, "Even for a short while," I was already running towards the room where Rose was held, "Rose!"

"Alice!" Rose was banging on the door, almost sobbing in relief, "What's happening, I heard explosions,"

"Cassandra rigged this place to blow," I answered her, "There were spiders and they exploded, and we're going to get roasted by the same sun as the Earth, unless the Doctor and Jabe are able to restore the whole system. And I get the feeling that not everyone's going to live through this," I heard a frantic beeping on the other side, "You have signal? We're miles out of range,"

"The Doctor did something to my phone," she replied, "Universal roaming, free of charge," I had to be impressed by that, a brief ludicrous moment in the world filled with insanity, "Hi Mum!"

"It's the end of the world, and you're calling Mum?" I muttered, "I guess so," I turned away from the doors, seeing that they were still completely stuck fast. I looked out of a small window, seeing the planet down below, "How long do we have left...?"

Rose was still gabbling away on the phone to Mum, _"Earth death, imminent," _I looked up at the speakers, _"Earth death imminent,"_

"Alice!" Rose's voice came back, "Alice, if this doesn't turn out very well for us..." I closed my eyes, resting my head on the door, "I don't blame you, you know? For what you've done in your life. How you've treated Mum, and Nan, sometimes," I nodded to myself, "And if we get out of this...well, don't mention it to anyone,"

I laughed slightly, "Already noted," I said, "And thank you...I haven't been the best...sister, but you're one of the most important people in my life. I..."

The speaker came on again, _"Planet explodes in ten... nine,"_ I stared at the small sheet of glass, watching the planet starting to boil down below, _"Eight...seven,"_ It was amazingly beautiful, the sun behind it, dazzling nearly everything with its liquid rays, _"Six...five,"_ if I had a choice of dying then I supposed that this view probably topped the list. It was incredible, _"Four...three,"_ For once I was at peace, _"Two...one...exoglass repair,"_

I blinked, watching as there was an almighty wave of fire bursting over the Earth, the light so intense that I had to look away. And then there was an explosion, chunks of rock and debris flying everywhere. And I laughed, because it was so beautiful and so...sad.

And I was still alive.

**I'm in two minds about the length of a chapter. Should I do longer chapters, but it'll take more time, or shorter chapters and upload more frequently. Or more frequently than I am doing presently? Any suggestions?**


	10. The End of the World: Part 5

**I'm back! I was going to put this up on Monday, but I thought it's nearly Christmas so it's an early present. Thank you to all the people that reviewed. They all make me smile and encourage me to post the next chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

"Alice," I looked up to see Rose standing there, the door to the chamber finally opened, "Alice, are you all right?"

I stood up, my eyes still on the flying chunks of rock and gas, "You know what?" I turned away from the sight, "I think I am," I took her arm and we moved down the corridor, "It's strange how beautiful destruction can be," I added, and she frowned at me, "There seems to be this...feeling that the ending of the Earth is a sad thing, but actually I think it's better to let nature take its course. Things aren't meant to last forever. Even the Earth,"

"Rather depressing," she reasoned and I smiled, "Let's go and find the Doctor," I nodded, allowing her to lead me into the main room. The aliens all seemed to have survived apart from the Moxx of Balhoon who was now just dust in his chair. I looked over to the Face of Boe whose glass was being cleaned. He bent his head towards me when he saw me and I smiled slightly, waving goodbye as the smoke inside his case obscured the sight of him. The little blue children were busy trying to clean the rest of his case as well.

We both looked as the Doctor stormed into the room, his face dark with anger. I shifted at the sign of it, knowing that whatever it was, it hadn't been good. He looked furious, but solemn and as he walked over to the two remaining tree people, I knew that Jabe hadn't survived through saving everyone. Maybe if I had...but I knew that if I had gone with them then I wouldn't have known what would have happened to Rose. I couldn't regret that choice.

The Doctor eventually came over to us, leaving the grieving tree people behind. His face was still flushed with rage at all that had happened, "Are you...?" I bit my lip and he looked at me. I persevered, "Are you all right, Doctor?"

"Yeah," he started pacing the room, "I'm fine," I looked down at the answer. It had been a stupid idea but one that had been needed to be asked, "I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them," he looked around, "Idea Number One: teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed," he walked towards the ostrich egg, "Idea Number Two: This feed must be hidden nearby," he smashed the egg, revealing a metallic looking device, "Idea Number Three," the Doctor moved back over to us, "If you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed," he violently turned a dial on the gadget.

There was an instant hum in the air, and I heard Cassandra's voice even before she had appeared, "Oh, you should have seen their little alien faces," I stared as the trampoline appeared right where she had left, "All helpless and bleating and..." she seemed to see us, "Oh,"

"The Last Human," the Doctor sneered looking at Cassandra.

"So," Cassandra actually seemed to be uncomfortable with the situation now. She knew that she had no way of getting out of here, "You passed my little test. Well done," she was stuttering now, actually showing real fear in the light of the circumstances, "That make you eligible to join the...uh...Human Club,"

"People have died!" I moved forward, pulling my arm out of Rose's grip, "You've murdered people, Cassandra!" I was slightly incensed, "They were people, they had lives and families, and you murdered them. Just for money,"

"Well," she suddenly turned vicious, "It depends on your definition of people," I stared at her, "And that's enough of a technicality that will keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then," her tone turned triumphant, "And witness the effect of beauty upon the legal system. Oh, I will dazzle them! Charm the sternest jury. Seduce the stiffest judge. You stand in court and watch me smile..." there was a terrible noise coming from her, "And cry," it was like she was contracting, "And flutter,"

"And creak?" the Doctor pointed out, and it was true. She was creaking in her frame, "You're creaking," he folded his arms, seemingly satisfied with the result that had come with her arrival back on Platform One.

"Oh!" Cassandra now was panicked as she realised that she was indeed creaking, "I'm drying out," I allowed one tiny smile to cross my face at her end. There was no way out for her now, "Oh sweet heavens! Moisturise me," she hadn't realised that her surgeons hadn't arrived with her. There was no way out for her now, "Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys? It's too hot!"

"You raised the temperature," I watched as Cassandra turned red with her skin drying out. She was shrinking, her skin contracting as the moisture that was in her quickly evaporated. Cassandra was crying out for mercy and I could tell from the Doctor's expression, that he wasn't willing to give it to her.

"Help her," Rose walked up to the Doctor, looking pleadingly at him to do something. Maybe I was too jaded with the world to see that happen. It made me slightly sad. I couldn't find it in myself to regret the inevitability of Cassandra's death. She had killed and she was going to die because of her actions.

"Everything has it's time," the Doctor shared the same mentality as I did in this situation, "And everything dies," I looked out of the large window seeing the remains of the Earth float lazily by. He was right. Nothing should last forever. Not even the planets.

"Help me!" I looked back at Cassandra, as she was panting and pleading for someone to save her, "I'm too young," holes were appearing in her skin, "I'm too young!" and bang, skin flew everywhere as Cassandra was torn literally from limb to limb. I ducked somewhat to avoid the fleshy remains as they flew at us.

The Doctor didn't look satisfied or unhappy, but just merely walked away from us through the doors and out of sight. Rose drifted over to look out the window and I moved to sit in front of the Face of Boe, who was now looking cleaner than I had seen him before, "She needed to die," he told me, "There wouldn't have been anything that anyone else could do in regards to Cassandra. The Courts would have probably not been able to sentence her,"

"I'm not upset about her death," I told him, "I know the reasons for it and I know that there was nothing I could do but to watch her die. I'm not proud of it, and I'm not even particularly condoning it. I know what I feel, and I don't feel sorry. But there has to be a point where it stops being right to allow someone to die like that, and starts being inhumane. I've just seen a planet get torn to shreds and I'm feeling...lost," I traced a pattern on the floor, "It feels...odd, like I'm not particularly grounded,"

"As long as you understand that everything has a consequence to it then you should be able to make your way forward," I nodded, standing up, "It is time for me to depart, we shall meet each other again soon enough, we can see how things have changed," I frowned at his comment but before I had time to ask him what it was about, he teleported away.

"That..." I sighed, "Is annoying. "Until next time, I suppose,"" I moved towards Rose, slipping my hand into hers, "What are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking..." she trailed off before looking at the Doctor who walked up behind us, "The end of the earth," I could see that she was close to tears at this point, "It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves to see it go," she looked at me, "Only you..." I turned away from her, looking out onto empty space, "All those years, all that history, and only one person was looking. It's just..." she couldn't carry on.

The Doctor held out his hand, "Come with me," he told us, and we let him lead us away from the sight of the massive Sun.

The journey in the TARDIS was tense, none of us said anything. I leant against the railing, twisting and turned my hands in each other, staring into the space. There was really nothing to be said. There was so much in this world of the Doctor's that I didn't understand. I could see a fraction of that bigger picture that I had always wanted to be a part of. It scared and frightened me, but somehow I didn't want to let go of that glimpse. There was so much more than what I had ever tried to understand or see. There were monsters and demons waiting under the bed but somehow...there was that rush of excitement whenever there was danger. I knew I couldn't go back, not now.

The TARDIS ground to a halt and Rose looked up from where she was standing, "Where are we?" she asked, slightly hoarsely. The end of the world had changed her, she had realised her own mortality, and she had to adjust around that huge fact. I smiled softly at her, she wouldn't leave either. It was a shock to her, but a good one in which she had emerged to become a better person.

The Doctor merely held out his hand, in a parody of earlier and Rose inclined her head slightly, walking out the door, "Are you going to follow her?" he inquired of me, and I looked up, "See what's out there?" I pushed myself away from the railings, walking towards the door. I hesitated, drumming my fingers on the latch of the door, "If I promise that it's not anywhere dangerous would you trust me?" I turned to look at him before opening the latch and walking out into a busy high street. Home. Or was it anymore, "You think it's going to last forever," the Doctor stood beside me, "People and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day it's gone," he looked above us, "Even the sky,"

"Mortality," I murmured and I felt his gaze on me, "It's just..." I broke my sentence, struggling to find the words to properly say what I meant, "It was just...burning, and there was nothing anyone could do for it," Rose shifted beside me, "How can you stand seeing something like that and remaining...calm when you come back here and everything was how it was?"

"Because my planet's gone," he answered me, and we both look at him, "It's dead. It burned, like the Earth; it's just rocks and dust now. Before it's time," there was a relentlessness in his words, like he had to force them to cooperate. So this was what Jabe was talking about all those minutes ago. It seemed like it was days to me, but it couldn't have been more than half an hour. Time had passed so slowly, there was so much that had been done since then.

"What happened to it?" Rose asked,

"There was a war," the Doctor replied honestly, "And we lost," And with those words, everything seemed to click into place. The loneliness in his eyes, the need for someone to be there around, why there was the silence in the TARDIS, he was alone, there was no one left for him,

"With who?" I inquired softly. Not wanting to push him but also wanting to know the answer to this very important question. There seemed so much to know about the Doctor and we only knew a very small part of it. So small I wasn't sure whether he was a stranger or a friend. He didn't answer my question, "What about your people?"

"I'm a Time Lord," he finally pushed on, "The last of the Time Lords. They're all gone, I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else left,"

"We're here," Rose said and he looked at us.

"You've seen what its like," he told us, "You know how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?" I think he already knew the answer to that question, but the Doctor seemed to need clarification on that point, like he was almost too afraid to ask but at the same time, had to ask for his peace of mind.

"I don't know," Rose said, looking around, before sniffing slightly, "I want..." she seemed distracted by the question, and I sniffed slightly before smiling at the smell, "Can you smell chips?" she asked us and I smiled properly for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Yes," I answered, "Yes, I can," I looked at the Doctor, "I want chips," he nodded, "So we've decided. Before you put us back in that impossible box of yours, we're going to have some chips," I eyed his coat, "And you can pay,"

He shrugged, patting his coat, "No money," he informed us.

Rose laughed, smiling that familiar smile, "What sort of date are you?" she asked him, before nodding down the road, "Come on, tightwad. Chips are on us then," we started walking down the road, "We've only got five billion years till the shops close," we all laughed as the ordinary people milled around us and I looked at the sky, silently delighting in its wonder of simply being there. I look at the Doctor and he looked at me, and in that moment I knew he knew what I was thinking. And he was silently telling me something.

That it was all going to be all right.

**It is scientifically proven that there is a link between reviews and new chapters (Hint Hint)**


	11. The Unquiet Dead: Part 1

**I'm so sorry that I haven't updated in nearly four months, but this year so far is not going too well. I've been ill, and then as soon as I recovered my laptop decided to corrupt it's hard-drive, and it took about a month to get the files off it, because we couldn't find them. So it's taken about two months to find everything. Needless to say I'm not feeling too charitable towards technology at the moment.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

The Unquiet Dead: Part One

"Hold that one down!"

"I am holding that one down!" I shouted at the Doctor as the whole TARDIS rocked about, nearly knocking my off my feet. I tottered unsteadily, "What do you want me to do, hold every single lever that happens to be on this console down?" I looked at him, "I've only got two hands!"

"Hold them both down!" he ordered me, and I rolled my eyes as I did what he asked. Rose was pressing several buttons on the side and the TARDIS rolled and shuddered. I felt faintly sick at the action and silently swore to myself that if I was going to be sick then it was going to be all over the Doctor's shoes. It would at least serve to serve him right.

"It's not going to work," Rose called at the Doctor and I smiled as I pressed a random button. I half suspected that you could press any button on the console and end up somewhere in the universe.

The Doctor looked up indignantly at Rose's words and I suppressed a smile in amusement at the expression. He didn't realise how silly it made him look, "Oi!" he pointed at her, "I promised you a time machine, and that's what you're getting. You've seen the future, now let's have a look at the past," he stared at the panel screen, reading the symbols. I accidentally let go of the levers, craning my head to look at what he was watching, "1860. How does 1860 sound?"'

"Perfect," I held onto the console tightly, as the whole room groaned and tilted, "Tell me again, what happened in 1860?"

"I don't know," he sounded practically giddy at the prospect, "Let's find out. Hold on-" he slammed down another lever, and I closed my eyes against the tremors. It would be that I would develop motion sickness in a time machine travelling through the Time Vortex, "Here we go!"

"I can't wait for it to happen," I murmured to myself, closing my eyes as the TARDIS. I patted the glass of the console, "Please get us here in one piece, I'm not particularly fond of being strawberry jam on the floor," it rolled violently, and I looked at the Doctor, "Doesn't she have stabilisers or something? I'm going to be sick,"

"Just breathe," he told me, "Let go of the console," I looked sceptical, "Go on," I sucked in a breath, silently counting to ten, before letting go of the console. The tremors that could feel when holding onto the console died away almost immediately, the vibrations now running through the door, "Not too bad?" I nodded, leaning against the railings, "Oh, nearly here,"

He pressed a button, smoke issuing from a vent and then with an almighty shudder, which knocked all of us to the ground, the TARDIS finally parked.

"Blimey," Rose sat up, holding onto her head, before smiling widely.

I sat from where I was lying on the ground, "You're telling me," I answered her, returning her smile, and patting myself down, "I'm all right. I don't think there's anything broken?" she nodded back, and I turned to look at our driver who was still studying the screen, "So...are we there yet?" I moved to look at the screen, but it didn't make any sense to me, "Where does it say where we are? London...Paris?"

He grinned, "Give the man a medal," he looked up, "Earth. Naples. December 24th. 1860?" I stopped slightly at that. Naples? Well, each to their own, it would be interesting either way.

"That's so weird," Rose smiled, "It's Christmas," the Doctor smiled, "But it's like..." I raised an eyebrow, "Think about it though. Christmas 1860 happens once, just once, and then it's finished, it's gone, it'll never happen again," she looked at the Doctor, "Except for you. You can go back and see days that are dead and gone. A hundred thousand sunsets ago," she grinned, "No wonder you never stay still,"

"Not a bad life," the Doctor remarked.

I leant against the now still console, looking at the green light, "Better with three," they both looked at me, and I smiled before running to the door, "Come on, Rose, 1860 awaits us,"

"Oi, Oi, Oi!" the Doctor called after us, "Hold it. Where do you think you're going?" I gestured to the closed doors, as if it were obvious, "Go out there dressed like that, you'll start a riot, Barbarella," I didn't feel fazed by that prospect, but I supposed that it wouldn't be the best option in Victorian Italy. The Doctor pointed down a hallway, "Go down there, there's a wardrobe. First left, second right, third on the left, go straight ahead, under the stairs, past the bins, fifth door on your door," Rose and I stared at him, "Well go on! Hurry up!"

We both ran for the hallway, Rose in front of me, "Second to the left, right?" she called behind her as we walked quickly down the second corridor on the left.

"No, third door on the left," I opened the right door, walking down another corridor which looked exactly the same as the previous corridor, "Under the stairs," we ducked under some iron grilled stairs which looked like they went to several flights of corridors and rooms, "How big is this place?" Rose nearly tripped on the bins, "Watch out, Rose," she rolled her eyes at me, before opening the fifth door.

We stopped short at the sight of the wardrobe. Well, the Doctor said wardrobe. The whole place was more reminiscent of a department store shoved into a police box. Floors upon floors filled with different types of clothing were unveiled to my eyes. I wasn't someone who was crazily obsessed with clothes. I would be happy with anything that was clean and not a bright colour, but even I had the urge to look at every single article in this wardrobe. It would put anyone's wardrobe to shame.

Rose only managed to let out a sigh as she looked at the clothes. We both looked at each other, and I knew that she was perhaps as overwhelmed as I was with this clothing, "That's a lot of clothes," she finally told me.

"I noticed," I replied, dryly, pulling myself back to the present. 1869 was waiting outside the TARDIS' doors, and I was not going to pass that up, "So...are we looking under V for Victorian? Or O for old fashioned?" I waved my hand in front of Rose's face, "You can stay here for long as you like. I'm going to see Naples,"

She snapped to at that, and started looking around the different sections, "I don't suppose that we'll ever run out even if we stayed here forever," she called from her spot, "How about this?" she pulled out a bright pink lycra costume. I burst out laughing, "Let's not completely scare the locals,"

It was another five minutes before we found anything that would be suitable for 1860. I helped Rose into a black dress, and for once I could really see how wearing a different type of clothing changed what a person really looked like. Her face was...somehow more structured, and her posture seemed more upright as well. She looked beautiful.

"Stop staring at me," now it was her turn to wave her hand in front of my face, "It's your turn now. Kit off," I smiled at her childlike humour and got changed into the dress that I had found amongst the feathers and beads. It wasn't what I had ever expected to wear, and it really wasn't I usually wore. Ankle length, full bodice dresses seemed to be really quite laborious to get on, and I was only glad that we were going at Christmastime because once I had got the dress on, I was already feeling somewhat flushed.

Once we had finally finished dressing and pulling shoes on, we walked precariously back to the console room where the Doctor was humming lightly to himself, his jacket slung over a chair and was fixing something underneath the grills. We must have been gone longer than I had thought. I noticed that he hadn't bothered to change.

He noticed us, and blinked, "Blimey," It was better than a completely horrified response.

"Now don't laugh," Rose warned him, pointed a finger, before pulling the dress up a little, "It took ages to get these things on us and I am not going back to change for at least another hour,"

"You both look...beautiful," I directed my attention towards the main console, not being completely used to receiving compliments from anyone, "Well...considering," I raised an eyebrow at that, "Considering that you're both human,"

"I think that was a compliment," I remarked, staring at the light again, "So I won't hold it against you," I finally looked back at him, "I see you haven't changed. Won't you get mobbed?"

"I've changed my jumper," he jumped out of the grate, "Come along," Rose ran past him, opening the door and grinning at me as she disappeared, "1860 out there," he told me, and I smiled, "I've done it all before...now it's your turn," I walked slowly towards the door, resting one hand on the door, "It's still going to be there when you open that door,"

I smiled at him before opening the door. A flutter of snow brushed my face and I looked outside to see the darkened night sky in which tiny flakes of snow were fluttering slowly down to the ground. Rose was already standing there, crunching around in the white on the ground.

I placed a foot outside, tentatively, "This is rather peculiar," I murmured, stepping on snow that had fallen hundreds of years before. Snow that had fallen before even my grandmother had been born. Now that was a very peculiar thought, "This is..." I walked further out, looking at the brick wall, "This is..." I couldn't exactly express my thoughts.

How can one express the sight of a time that most can never return to?

The Doctor stepped out behind us, wearing his leather jacket, and he shut the TARDIS door behind him, "Ready for this?" he asked us and Rose and I, looking at the sky, "Here we go. History,"

We walked down the small cobbled street, heading onto a main road. It was so fascinating, with so many people, colours and shapes and sounds. People singing carols, and there was thick snow throughout the whole street. I could smell the scent of Christmas orange and pine needles off the trees. It smelled like Christmas did at home. There was always the idea in my head that the past was pictured like a black and white film, with no colour injected into it. But this was...bigger and brighter than anything that I had ever expected to see.

There was just one thing that struck me as being rather odd. "Naples?" I inquired as we crunched through the snow.

"Naples," the Doctor agreed, breathing in deeply, and grinning at me.

"1860?" I pressed him harder. It wasn't that I completely doubted that we were in the past. There was just his sense about the whole place that didn't exactly seem Italian. It felt homely...rather an English atmosphere. I hadn't ever been to Italy, and I was sure that the Italian atmosphere was wonderful, but even with the TARDIS translating other languages; there was still a crispness of accent in the people's voice. Like it was familiar.

"1860," the Doctor replied, and I looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "Don't you believe me?" I smirked at that before returning to my sightseeing of everyday people in 1860. The Doctor on the other hand, went to a news vendor, paying him for the newspaper, before opening it up to read it, "Ahh," he looked a little disgruntled, "I did get the flight a bit wrong,"

"I don't care," said Rose, loving every bit of it. She was doing the same as I was, her eyes looking at every single fact about this strange and wonderful world that we seemed to have arrived in. She hadn't spoken since we had left the TARDIS, and I didn't blame her. You wanted to take everything in, and words would only distract you from seeing.

"It's not 1860, it's 1869," he told us.

"We don't care," I said, smiling as we passed two small boys who were sitting on a stone step, eating something that looked like a very tough meat pasty. It was worlds away from what I was used to.

"And it's not Naples," he added

I turned to look at him, glad to have my feeling verified, "So where exactly are we, Doctor?" I inquired of him, "If we aren't in Naples and if we aren't in 1860. We're certainly not in the present day,"

"I don't care," Rose repeated, still enjoying herself so much that our location didn't matter.

I looked at the Doctor expectantly. "It's Cardiff," he informed us, which made Rose stop, and me carry on walking as we strolled down a street of Victorian Britain. Rose quickly caught us up again, "I have to say this is all rather tame around here. I was thinking more angels on the loose," he grinned at us, "Or perhaps Christmas trees with a grudge. But this..." he looked around, "This is what humans do. Every year, you sit around the table, eat the same food, watch the same shows, and do the same things you've done since you were a child. It's absolutely fantastic. And you'll never change,"

Screams suddenly erupted from a nearby theatre and people seemed to be running outmoded their faces contorted in pure fear. I looked at the Doctor, "You were saying, Doctor?"

"Oh that's more like it!"

**So what do you think? Nearly finished the next chapter so I'll be posting that up soon, maybe Friday...we'll see.**


	12. The Unquiet Dead: Part 2

**I'm back! Told you I would be. Admittedly I was going to be posting this yesterday, but then I decided to make it longer. So that's all fair. So glad that people are still reading this, even if it hadn't been updated in four months. Alerts and favourites are just as good as reviews in my opinion, because it shows that you're still willing to continue reading this in the future. Which makes us all happy.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine...Ever.**

The Unquiet Dead: Part 2

The screaming seemed to be coming from an old theatre, and as we ran towards it, droves of people were swarming the other way. Whatever was in there seemed to have scared an awful lot of people. Did the 19th Century have mass murderer? The only one I could remember was Jack the Ripper, and he only killed in London, and was a little later than 1869. Certainly there couldn't be anything like that within Cardiff.

My answer was quickly answered when we managed to get inside the theatre. People were still pushing past us, but I could see it clearly. In the middle of the theatre was an old woman, but she looked more decayed than old. I don't have much against the older generation but this woman...she was papery white, her skin stretched taunt like parchment, and her eyes were yellow-white, rolling back into her head. She looked like a living corpse, although that was logically impossible. But once again a feeling nagged at me, telling me that something wasn't right with her...whispering to me that there was more to this story.

But that wasn't what had truly grabbed my attention. High above her, swirling like the beginnings of a thunderstorm was a blue...spirit. It was but it wasn't. It was wraithlike, a nightmare of pure terror, a changeling demon of no description, and wailing. But it also looks childlike, like a child was merely screaming in the dark for its mother and it couldn't find the switch to turn the light on. It was paradoxical and impossible. It made me want to run, and also made me want to get close to it. I wanted to know what it was, and what it could do.

"Fantastic," I turned to look at the Doctor, who's eyes were fixated on the gas like creature. It didn't serve to make him want to run away from it, and it only served to remind me that this man only had the new and exciting to look out for. After seeing his planet burn, he had to have something to would continually draw his attention away from dwelling on it. And the only thing that would serve that particular need was the mistress of adventure. He turned to look at me, "Coming?"

I followed him as he ran towards a man who was on the stage, staring at the wraith like he had been personally insulted. It was an odd response, I thought, seeing as I doubted that a Victorian man would have ever encountered something like this before. I decided to take the risk and called out to him, "Did you see where it came from?"

He turned to look at us, before pointing a finger triumphantly at us, "Ah! The wags reveal themselves," the Doctor and I both looked at each other before climbing up on the stage, all three of us turning to look at the wraith wailing above us, "Well, I trust you're satisfied,"

I then noticed two people who were out of place. Well, not out of place like Rose, the Doctor and I were. But they were fighting against the crowd, heading towards the old woman, who had collapsed against the floor by now. They seemed an odd crew, an old man with a top hat, and a young woman, maybe Rose's age, not any younger. As I watched the old man hoisted the unconscious old woman on his shoulders dragging the old woman away.

"Oi!" Rose shouted at them, fighting through the crowd. She was still stuck in the throng of people pushing to leave, "Doctor, Alice, I'll get them!" she fought her way after the two.

"Be careful!" I shouted back, nodding at here, "Don do anything stupid," and turned to the man still on the stage. He hadn't moved a muscle, maybe he was terrified but he seemed to be more fascinated with the spectre than anything else, "Did it say anything?" I asked him.

He didn't answer me so the Doctor took over, "That was a fairly intelligent question," he said, "Did it say anything?" nothing, "Did it speak?" he smiled, "I'm the Doctor by the way,"

"Doctor?" the man looked disdainfully at the Doctor's choice in clothing, "I have to confess that you look more like a navvy,"

I hid a smile behind one hand as the Doctor pulled at his jumper and exclaimed, "What's wrong with this jumper?" he made an impatient gesture, "Never mind, more important things to worry about," we all watched as the screaming wraith was suddenly sucked into a lamp in the Dress Circle, the light glowing a fierce blue before dying down to its normal colour, "Gas..." the Doctor was fascinated, "It's made of gas,"

"Where do we go to next then?" I asked him, and he looked at me with a smile, "We follow the old woman," he grasped my hand and pulled me off the stage, admittedly without a goodbye to the old man. But this wasn't a time for goodbyes, only for fleeting hellos.

We burst out into the cold air, the snow swirling around us almost energised by our emotions. But Rose wasn't anywhere in sight. I turned around in a large circle, almost bumping into that same man again. Maybe he had been more interested than I first pegged him for. I looked at him carefully as well...he was more than he seemed as well...something in my mind pulled tightly as if to say: 'You haven't figured it out yet?'

I ignored it.

"Rose!" I swirled to look at the Doctor, before being pulled towards what looked like a hearse, with a body with strangely familiar blonde hair inside of it. I understood why the Doctor was running after them. The double act of the old man and the girl had taken Rose to wherever they were taking the old lady. I now didn't care for the specific, I just wanted to find my sister.

"You're not escaping me, sir...Madame!" the man behind us shouted. For a rather old man he had a rather loud voice, I idly noted, looking around for some kind of transport to take us after that hearse, "What do you know about that hobgoblin? A projection on glass, I suppose? Who put you up to it?"

"Yeah, mate, not now," I smiled tightly at him before running over to a carriage and driver on the side of the road, the Doctor fast behind me, "Oi you!" I shouted up at him, "I need you to follow that hearse!" I pointed in the direction of where arose had just gone before climbing inside.

"I can't do that, ma'am...sir!" the man shouted back at us, and I rolled my eyes. Why could people never learn that sometimes there was something that was a little more important than doing their job and following orders. As I had learnt very fast in two days, sometimes there was more to life than playing by the rules.

"Why not?" the Doctor asked, rapping the top of the box.

The old man from the stage was still following us, and was still in a temper, "I'll tell you why not," he almost quivered with anger, "I'll give you a very good reason why not," he stood by the door, waving a cane around. It would have been quite comical if we weren't so pressed for time, "Because this is my coach!"

I sighed, reaching over, wrapping a hand around his wrist and pulling him into the coach, the side door slamming shut after him, "You're in now, so there is no reason why you can continue complaining," I informed him, before raising my voice to the driver, "Move! Come on, you're going to lose them!" the driver whipped the horses into a gallop as we set off after the hearse. Inside I was trying to control my panic. Rose had been taken by two people in the middle of Victorian Cardiff...in a hearse. None of those things should ever be rightly placed together in a sentence.

"Everything all right, Mr Dickens?" the coach driver shouted down to us, and I was suddenly dragged away from my thoughts to stare at the angry old man next to me. Had the driver is what I thought he had said?

"No, everything is not all right!" The man who I thought the driver called Mr Dickens shouted back angrily.

"What did he say?" The Doctor seemed to have caught onto what I had noticed as well, "Dickens?" the man nodded sharply at us, "Charles Dickens? The Charles Dickens?" the Doctor also seemed to be rather giddy with this revelation, but then I wasn't any better. If this was the Charles Dickens then I was practically bowled over.

Well it isn't every day that you meet one of your literary heroes while charging through the streets of Victorian Cardiff after your sister who is in a hearse.

"Yes!" the man sounded almost annoyed at the fact that we were questioning him on his name. But then I suppose he was still in the dark about us wanting the carriage in the first place.

"Should I remove the man and lady, sir?" the driver called down again and I rapped the top of the box once again to make him go faster. I had been temporarily diverted from trying to find my sister but now my mind was firmly settled out onto the right course of action. Get Rose first...then find out exactly how it was that Charles bloody Dickens was in the same carriage as me.

"Charles Dickens!" The Doctor was completely bowled over by the sight of the author, "You're brilliant, you are. Completely one hundred percent, brilliant! I've read them all. Great Expectations- I loved that book. Oliver Twist? And..." he racked his brains for something, "What's that one with the ghost?"

"A Christmas Carol," I proposed.

"No, no, no, no, the one about trains...The Signalman," he beamed, "That's it! Terrifying! The best short story ever. You are a genius," all this was adding up to one very excited Doctor, a rather bemused looking Charles Dickens, and me sitting in the middle of them, half in shock and half in panic. Never meet your heroes, and I had a feeling that saying was going to prove itself very true in the coming hours.

"Do you want me to get rid of him, sir!" the driver seemed to be insisting on this ever five minutes, from the amount of times that he had called down now, and it was now starting to get annoying. Couldn't he look towards the road to focus on where he was actually going?

Anyway Charles Dickens looked a little flattered at the Doctor's praise of him. I supposed every author likes to hear that their books have been nicely received, and to get an overawed review as well simply seemed to be absolutely fine for him, "No, I think they can stay!" he called back to the driver.

"Honestly Charles...can I call you Charles?" the Doctor asked, and the man nodded hesitantly. The Doctor nudged me in the side, still smiling widely. He was very happy to be meeting one of his heroes to be sure, "I'm such a big fan,"

That seemed to throw the author off a little, "Err, you're a what?" he asked, "A big what?"

"A fan," I told him, keeping my eyes in front. I was slightly apprehensive of looking at him directly, as if he wasn't exactly real, "Number one fan. That would be him," the Doctor probably had read over Charles Dickens works about a hundred times from the sound of it. I really couldn't talk. I had loved every page of my edition of Oliver Twist.

The man was still obviously confused at our wording, "A fan? How exactly are you a fan?" he inquired, "In what way do you resemble a means of cooling oneself?" Fan...right...Victorian era language. No such thing as twenty first century slang here. A fan was now literally only something that could cool yourself down.

"No, it means fanatic," the Doctor explained, "Devoted to you," he suddenly pulled a face, "Mind you, that American bit in Martin Chuzzlewit, what's that all about? Was that just padding or what? I mean it's rubbish, that is,"

"I thought you were meant to be my fan?" Charles Dickens' voice seemed to have gotten colder at that.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, "Well if you can't take criticism," he remarked, before grinning again, "Go on, do the death of Little Nell, that bit cracks me up all the time," I nudged him in the side and he snapped back into remembering about Rose, "No, sorry! Forget that. Never mind," he rapped the box now, "Come on faster!"

"Who's inside that hearse?" Charles Dickens inquired,

"My older sister," I told him, still looking ahead at the road, "She's only nineteen, and she got taken by two people who put her into that hearse. We were...travelling and now she's in danger,"

"Then why waste my time with dry old books?" he demanded, "This is far more important! Driver!" he called up, "Drive on! Be swift! The chase is on!" he seemed to be enthused with the challenge ahead of us.

We were in the carriage driving down the cobbled lanes for about five minutes before the horses suddenly pulled up outside the house. I looked out the window, seeing that the house that we had stopped at was an undertakers. I nearly hit myself, of course they would be an undertakers...there was a hearse involved. The same hearse that was tethered to the lamppost outside, horses and all. They weren't hiding it anywhere.

I say back in my seat, "That hearse isn't hidden," I said to the Doctor, "Which means that they're not worried about being seen by us. They're more dangerous since they're amateurs. Rose is definitely in there," we all clambered out, staring at the house, "Not exactly room for a party,"

The Doctor and I made for the door but Charles placed a restraining arm on the Doctor, stopping him, "Doctor, let me lead. Dressed like that and they'll show you to the tradesman's entrance," he looked at me, "And no disrespect but I doubt that they would listen to anything that you would have to say to them. They'd turn you away immediately,"

I chose to ignore that comment. Victorian era and their...opinions on women. We were before the Suffragettes, weren't we? "We thought that you should have changed, Doctor," I remarked to the leather coated man who pretended not to hear me, "Lead on then Charlie," I finally turned to grin at the author standing next to me.

"Nobody calls me Charlie," he said, slightly dignified with his response.

"The ladies do," Charles and I both turned to look at the Doctor, who grinned, "I told you," he answered, as if it were obvious, "I'm your number one..."

"Fan...yes you've told me," and with that Charles Dickens strode towards the door with the Doctor and I trailing after him, the Doctor still grinning widely at meeting the celebrated author.

We both shared a look, "We just met Charles Dickens," I hissed to him, making sure that my voice was low as we crunched through the snow, "And we are going to talk about this after we have gotten Rose back from the hearse bound kidnappers," he nodded and we both could help but shoot one big smile at each other before we stopped behind Charles, who promptly rapped on the door with his cane.

I could hear the faint running of footsteps and the door opened to show the girl that had been from the theatre. The old-lady-and-sister-snatcher duo. She looked scared at the sight of us, and that nagging sensation erupted again in my head that she was somehow...I'm not sure, but important? Or familiar? "I'm sorry sir," she said, half hidden behind the door, "But we're closed,"

"Don't lie to me, girl," Charles told her, and I realised that the girl was a servant. Once again, Victorian culture was a completely different world to my limited views, "Since when did undertakers keep office hours. The dead don't die on schedule," he drew himself up, "I demand to see your master,"

"He's not in," she tried to shut the door but I moved past Charles to jam my foot in the door, and used my weight to push it open again, "Miss, please,"

"Listen, my sister was taken in the same hearse that is tethered outside, so please, do us all a favour and don't lie to me, because I saw you in that theatre taking that old woman," I told her, looking her straight in the eyes, "I know that you've got her, purely and simply because I doubt that three people can make the same mistake. And thirdly..." I stepped through the door, "You seem to have a very serious problem with your gas,"

I motioned upwards and she turned to see that the gas lamp by the door was flickering, sparking larger and smaller, like the one in the theatre had down so. It wasn't a natural light, and as I closed my eyes, I could hear this very faint whisper that seemed to eminent inside the glass shell of the light.

"What the Shakespeare is going on?" Charles demanded of what seemed like all of us.

I immediately abandoned my position and pressed my ear up against the wall, which incidentally seemed to be exactly what the Doctor had done, "You're not allowed inside, sir," the girl seemed to protest and I raised an eyebrow at her, before turning my attention back to whatever was whispering inside the walls. It was the walls...not just the lamp.

"There's something inside the walls," The Doctor said, pressing closer, "Something in the gas pipes. Something inside the actual gas?" there was a sudden banging from somewhere inside the house, and a voice shouting for help. Rose, "That's her!" I followed the Doctor inside, and past the other counterpart of the duo that we had followed.

He seemed to swell with anger, "How dare you!" I just past him, heading towards Rose's door, "This is my house!"

I reached a door, hammering wildly at it. Locked. I sighed, before looking at the Doctor and together we ran at it sideways, our weight hitting the door and the locks were forced open. Inside was the old woman from the theatre, a younger man, and Rose. Rose appeared to be suffocating by the man. I quickly ran over, grabbing her arm, and pulling her away from the two, "I believe that she would rather be with me," I told them, seeing the veins that protruded from around their eyes. They didn't look human, they looked...dead.

And then it all made sense. They were dead, the woman at the theatre hadn't been unconscious, she just never was alive. The wraith was merely animating her body, but she was still dead when it left her. There had been no echo of life within her. This would explain why exactly she had been bundled into a hearse, and why the undertakers were so keen to make sure that she was returned to them. The dead were starting to walk around.

"It's a prank," Ahh so Charles had arrived behind us and was looking at our new friendly zombies that were walking very slowly towards us, "Must be. We're under some mesmeric influence,"

"No," the Doctor echoed my own thoughts, "The dead are walking," he looked down at Rose, "Hi," she smiled at him, "Don't think you've met our friend. Charles Dickens," now it was Rose's turn to look bewildered at Charles. I suppose going back in time must mean general meetings of famous people long dead. I turned back to look at the zombies, "Hello, my name's the Doctor. Who are you then? What do you want?"

And then the strangest thing happened. The dead open their cold dry lips, and spoken to us in voices that sounded like dry leaves and rot. It wasn't a...human voice, but I gathered that they had been speaking English from the horrified look on Charles' face, "Failing," they said, "Open the Rift! We are dying! Trapped in this form. Cannot sustain. Help us!"

And then they opened their gaping maws even wider, the blue wraith pouring out into the room, swirling and screaming around us as we watched the two bodies collapse onto the floor. Dead. The spectres whirled around the room once more before being absorbed into the lamps again, and silence filled the room in the absence of sound. I don't think anyone of us could have said something.

But I had a very bad feeling about all of this. I didn't know exactly what was going on or what they were or even what they wanted. All I knew was that opening something called The Rift, in those beloved capital letters seemed to be an extremely bad idea.

And this was all going on my bad feeling.

* * *

"First of all you drug me, then you kidnap me- and don't think I didn't feel your hands feeling a quick wander, you dirty old man!"

We were all now in the sitting room, being served tea by the serving girl, who I now knew as Gwyneth. Rose had recovered remarkably after her latest ordeal of potential death in a long list (plastic dummies, the sun exploding and now zombies was shaping up to be a very interesting future), and she seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that she had the perpetrator sitting right in front of her. And also the use of a walking stick which she was using to great effect in waving and pointing it around the room.

I was on the sofa, next to Charles, watching the proceedings carefully. Inspired my own mind was filled with questions and potential theories but I didn't have any idea to as what it was. I was slightly preoccupied with wanting to have my tea as well. Charles Dickens, zombies, and Cardiff was taking its toll on me, and I needed something to at least relax me.

"I won't be spoken to like this!" Mr Sneed was the undertaker's name but he didn't seem to be very convinced with his words. In fact he seemed to be downright terrified of Rose.

"And then you stick me in a room full of zombies!" she shouted, ignoring what he had said, and waving the stick around nearly breaking a vase, "And if that wasn't enough, you swan off and leave me to die! I had to be rescued by my younger sister," I sniffed slightly at that, leaning back in my seat, "So come on then! Talk!" and she waved the walking stick so violently, I thought that she might actually impale the old man before she got any proper answers.

"It's not my fault, it's this house!" he shouted back, "Always had a bad reputation. Haunted," I made a face at that before smiling slightly as Gwyneth passed me the cup and saucer. I took a sip, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it was exactly how I liked it. Milk and half a teaspoon of sugar, "But I never had much bother until three months back. Then the stiffs-" he stopped short looking at Charles and I, "I mean the dear departed, started getting restless,"

"Tommyrot," Charles inputted scathingly.

"But you witnessed it, sir!" Sneed exclaimed, before looking at the Doctor for approval, "Can't keep the beggars down, sir, they walk. And it's the queerest thing; they hang onto scraps of their old selves. One old fella- used to be a sexton- almost walked into his own memorial service. Like the old lady, going to your performance, just like she had planned,"

"Morbid fancy," The author insisted, denying everything that he had seen. I could understand why, in a sense, something's just didn't fit with your world, so you blocked them out and made them fit to logic. I still did it even when I knew that something's were outside the boundaries of the world I thought I was in. Charles, being Victorian, was just doing the same, except being more stubborn in not seeing it.

"Charles you were there," I pointed out softly, curling a hand around the cup of tea in my hand, "It happened right in front of you, you can't deny that,"

"I saw nothing but an illusion," he replied stubbornly.

"If you're going to deny it, don't waste my time, just shut up," I looked quickly at the Doctor as he said that, and I could see that he was at the end of his patience. He lived in the world of monsters and creatures every day saw the proof in front of his eyes. No wonder he was rather irritated. But I saw the look on Charles' face and knew that perhaps it was a little harsh. The Doctor looked at Mr Sneed, "Now what about the gas?" he asked.

"That's new sir," Mr Sneed seemed willing to cooperate now, thought I could see that he still kept an eye on Rose's walking stick, "Never seen anything like that,"

I looked to the Doctor for an explanation, "Means it's getting stronger. The rift's getting wider, and something's sneaking through," I didn't know what that something could be, but those wraiths didn't exactly look like they wanted to spread Christmas cheer.

"What's the rift?" Rose asked from where she was standing, armed with her cane.

"A weak point between time and space, a connection between this place and another," he waved a hand, "That's the cause of ghost stories most of the time," well we certainly had found a couple of our own ghosts at Christmas. Pity they weren't like the ones in a Christmas Carol, these ones just seemed insistent on inhabiting dead bodies.

Sneed perked up at the hearing of ghost stories, "That's how I got the house so cheap, stories going back generations," he informed us, "Echoes in the dark. Queer songs in the air. And the feeling, like a shadow passing over your soul," Oh brilliant, now we really had degenerated into telling ghost stories. I never had been a massive enthusiast for haunted houses, "Truth be told, it's been good for business, just what people expect from a gloomy trade like mine,"

Charles moved out of the room, the door shutting slowly, and I met the Doctor's eyes. He nodded at me, and I slipped out of the room, following the author. I knew that he was insistent on the fact that the spectres were merely an illusion of pure fancy, but I also knew that he had stayed. Like he almost wanted to be proved wrong. He hadn't left yet when I knew that any lesser person would have run out of the door as fast as they could. That had to say something about his character as a person. He was brave.

I rested on the doorframe of the room where we had found arose, watching as Charles pulled the lid of one of the corpse's coffins. Yes, he was definitely brave. I wouldn't have been able to get quite as close to a coffin as he was, "Are you checking for strings?" I asked him, and he turned towards me.

"Wires perhaps," I walked forward into the room, "There must be some mechanism behind this fraud," I looked at him, "Unfortunately I haven't found anything watertight yet, but I will prevail,"

"Charles," I walked forward looking at him carefully, "Ok, the Doctor shouldn't have told you to shut up, but he's like that. He does care, and he is your number..." Charles merely waved his hand, and I nodded, "And I know that what's happen here today seems to be completely out of your world, and it is, and I'm sorry for that. But you do have one of the greatest minds in the world," I shrugged lightly, "I mean we all saw whatever that wraith was. It was made of gas,"

"I cannot accept that," he told me.

"What does the human body do when it starts to decompose, to break down?" I asked him, "It produces gas, which if thought about it logically, it's a perfect home for whatever these creatures are," I smiled a little, "They can slip inside dead bodies, use them as a vehicle, and I'm not saying that it's right that they should do that, but they've done it,"

"Stop it!" he placed a hand to his head and I saw that he was close to tears. In a few short hours his world had been torn to shred, and everything that he knew had been pushed to the furthest corners of their boundaries, "Can it be, Miss? That I have the whole world entirely wrong?"

"Of course not," I replied gently, "You have gotten your world entirely correct, the world of Victorian London and the British Empire and the world of dirt and disease completely right. But this is just not that world, this is merely another. Most people live in their own world, never getting a glimpse of anything else. God knows I've been there. All you have to know is that there is more to learn, and that's never a bad thing?"

"But all my life," he insisted, "I've railed again fantasists! Oh I've loved an illusion as much as the next man, revelled in them. But that's what they were. Illusions! The real world is something else. I've dedicated my life to the real world. The injustices. The great social causes. I hoped that I was a force for good," he placed his hands to his head, "Now you tell me that the real world is a realm of spectres and jack o'lanterns. In which case..." I sat next to him on a chair, "Have I wasted my brief span, Miss? Has it all been for nothing?"

"Of course not," I answered, "No life is wasted. And no life is wrong," I curled my hands around each other, "Charles, this world was only introduced to me a week ago, and since then I've learned that there's no end to the possibilities of this world. But this world of monsters and ghosts can exist beside the world of realism, living side by side but never touching," I smiled at him, "And I'm sorry, but there is no way you've wasted your life. All those books you've written...people will be enjoying those for literally centuries afterwards. You've highlighted what is wrong in this society," I leaned back against the chair, "Sometimes you just need an act of faith,"

"You really think people will be reading my old book for centuries?" he asked me, and I smiled at his diverted attention, "I never thought that they would,"

"You are joking?" I looped my arm through his as we walked out of the door, "Oliver Twist was just pure genius, and believe me, they're going to be talking about that one for a long time,"

**I have to say that Charles Dickens is one of my favourite authors of all time, and Oliver Twist is one of my favourite books. The films never seem to do it complete justice...but then that's my opinion. What other Charles Dickens books do people like? Christmas Carol? Great Expectations?**


	13. The Unquiet Dead: Part 3

**Third chapter of Unquiet Dead out in less than...two week, I think. I'm even impressed with myself. I actually thought that this was going to be shorter chapter than it actually ended up. Strangely longer than the previous chapter which I really thought would be impossible to exceed. Alice seemed to have decided to take the reins and tell me where to go next. Next time might me even longer...who knows.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

The Unquiet Dead: Part 3

The Doctor was outside the house when I had left Charles to talk to Mr Sneed. The famous author hadn't appeared to be terribly convinced of the fact that there were monsters and demons in this world. And he was still showing doubt on the matter of the spirits that we had seen here at the undertakers. But I was sure that he would soon come around to that way of thinking. He was an author of a selection of the most famous books in the whole of time. His imagination would surely catch onto this idea of the other world and show him that it was the truth...well; time would show the proof of my explanations to the old man.

"Penny for your thoughts," I said to the Doctor, startling him slightly. I don't think he had realised that I was there. I hadn't thought I had been that quiet but then who knew, the man was an alien, or perhaps just deep in thought about the whole affair. He turned to look at me and I leant on the stone wall next to the sign that pronounced the building as an undertaker's, "Well, I say a penny. What would a penny be worth in eighteen sixty? Three quid probably,"

"Nineteen pence," he answered and I nodded, "Sorry, I was just getting some air," I merely smiled, "You know these wraiths are very different to what I had imagined. They need help," I was silent, "But I need to know more about where they're from. I know that they use the dead bodies because they can live off the gas, but why do they need the bodies, it makes no..."

"Doctor, you're rambling," I interrupted him quietly, and he stopped talking immediately, just watching him, "You're disappointed in Charles," he didn't answered me, just let out a very long sigh. I looked at him intently, "You're disappointed that he can't just accept what is right in front of his eyes, that there are worlds beyond his comprehension, that he doesn't accept it as real," I bit my bottom lip, "You thought that he would be made of stronger stuff,"

"How do you do that?" he asked me, and I frowned slightly, "You look at someone and you can just deconstruct what they're thinking and what they're doing. How they act. I haven't known many people that have been able to do that like you do. You really see people," he nodded slowly; "I understand that it is difficult for some people to accept what they see. It's only the really interesting people that can see and understand and accept it. But this is Charles Dickens, one of the greatest minds in all the world, throughout time. How can it be that difficult for him to accept that there are other worlds? How can he not see that this is real and alive," he waved a hand, "OK, so I shouldn't have told him to shut up, but...he's so clever and yet so terribly blind,"

"He's not you, Doctor," I told him; "He's lived his life seeing the wrongs in this world, not others. And he's an old man; he's set in his ways. Perhaps he will change them; I hope he will after tonight. But don't you find that old people tend to be stuck in their beliefs so much more than younger people? And this man...this fantastic author, he's still human, like me, like Rose. Except Victorian," he cracked a grin, "Don't give up on him Doctor, his books aren't about the fantastical, they aren't about wizards and vampires and monsters in the dark. They're about poverty and faith, and opportunities. Human follies, and weaknesses," I shrugged, "He will come around. People who are around you seem to do that,"

"You think?" I nodded at his answer, "I can't wait then," he moved to go back inside the house before stopping, "You know I mean what I said," I frowned at him, "You do look beautiful, considering that you're a human," he slipped back inside with a flash of a grin, and I pressed a hand to my cheek. It was strangely warm.

"Get over yourself," I muttered, pulling myself together.

* * *

I found Rose in the kitchens, drying some plates, "And how are you this evening?" I inquired of her, picking up a plate and stowing it away in the cupboard, "How's your head?" I looked at the side of her forehead seeing a raised bump, "Does it hurt?" I refrained from placing pressure on it. I didn't want her to snap at me or something along those lines.

"It's not painful unless you touch it," she replied to me, handing me another plate, "I think I must have bumped it when I was unconscious in the hearse, next to that poor lady," she looked out of the window briefly, "So...Charles Dickens, how did you two get so cosy?" she grinned at me.

"It was honestly a mistake," I assured her, "He was performing at that theatre, the Doctor and I sort of interrogated him about the blue spectre that was there. He seemed to think that it was a lantern trick or some other mechanism, and we somehow ended up all sharing a coach which was galloping after you," I took the next plate, "Which is why we all ended up here, in this little undertakers' building in the middle of Cardiff, seemingly being targeted by blue spirits from another world," I rocked back on my heels, "I do have to say that this is very, very Christmas Carol. We have the ghosts, we have the snow, and we even have the disbelieving old man, who happens to be Charles Dickens himself,"

"I understand," she nodded along with my words, but then nudged me and laughed, "But still...Charles Dickens," we grinned openly at each other, before dissolving into laughter. There we were, two London girls, dressed up to the nines in clothing that hadn't been probably worn for centuries, laughing over a sink in the middle of Victorian Cardiff on Christmas Eve. It was something from a storybook, "Oh God, what would Mum say if she say us?"

"Probably to tell us to make a cup of tea for her," I quipped and we started laughing again. Eventually we both calmed down, "Do you think that she's all right?" I said, and she frowned, "We're all the way out here...lost in years gone by and she's at home. How much time has gone by for her? We must have been gone for what? Two days, and neither of us have exactly said anything about her. We can't exactly call her," I pulled my phone out of my boot, a habit that I had always done, "Out of signal..." I looked at my sister, "Just a hundred and fifty years short," I closed the phone, suddenly saddened slightly, "I don't even know what I'd say to her,"

She pulled out her phone, switching it on, "The Doctor did something to it, some sort of jiggerypokery," I raised my eyebrow at her words, hardly technical language, "He literally gave it like a top up. Dial Mum's number," I was slightly sceptical but then this whole world I was in was out of the ordinary. I typed in the number, holding it up to my ear, hearing it ringing, "Universal signal,"

Mum picked up, "Oh hi Rose," I pulled the phone away from my ear to look at the screen. _Calling Mum_. So it did work, how...extraordinary, "Rose?" Mum dragged the word out slowly, "Are you there...Rose!"

"Hi Mum," I said, "Sorry, it's not Rose, my phone's out of signal," this was extremely weird. I was talking to my mother who hadn't even been born yet according to the calendar, "I was calling to ask how you were," I remembered something that I had forgotten. It was a different world...a domestic world and I had to remember what I had left behind not a few days ago. It was strangely difficult, "And to ask a favour...perhaps. But only if you want to," I assured her suddenly, remembering our current relationship situation, "I mean if you don't want to, then you don't have to,"

"What do you want me to do?" she sighed, "But don't forget it again,"

"I only wanted to ask you if you wouldn't mind checking on my flat," I told her, "I might not be back for a while...gone to see someone about a job, might stay over at Shareen's and just didn't want anyone thinking that they could break in," I finished slowly, "You can use the kettle and teabags if you want,"

I heard her audible sigh, "I'll do it, but I'm not doing it every time you decide to stay over at Shareen's flat. I have my own life as well, remember," I smiled at Rose as she rolled her eyes good-naturedly, "And if you see that sister of yours, then tell her that she never did put a quid in the lottery for me, the boy on the counter told me. Also to come back home rather soon, I want to talk to her about a job I found in John Lewis, brilliant rates,"

"I'll tell her," I informed her, "I'll see you soon then, Mum. Bye," I ended the call and handed it back to Rose, "Thank you," she pocketed the phone, "She's fine, and you didn't put a quid in for the lottery," We resumed the dishwashing duty, "Suppose they don't have the lottery here,"

Gwyneth suddenly came through the door, holding a box of matches, before looking at both of us in surprise, "Please Miss, you really shouldn't be helping," she told us and I grinned from where I was putting the dishes in the cupboards, "It's really not right,"

Rose laughed, "Don't be daft, "I bet Sneed works you to death," I was handed another dish, "How much do you get paid?"

"Eight pound a year, miss," we both stared at her. Eight pounds was hardly anything in 2005, but then...I quickly worked it out in my head. If one penny in our time would be nineteen pence in 1869, then eight pounds now would be...three hundred and sixty pounds in my time. Well that still wasn't very much, but then she did get board and food here as well. But still...not that much. Gwyneth seemed to have misread our expressions because she happily exclaimed, "I know, I would have been happy with six,"

I returned to putting plates away, "So did you even go to school, or what?" Rose asked, playing with the cloth that she had been used to drying all the dishes.

Gwyneth sounded scandalised, "Of course I did," she exclaimed, "What do you think I am, an urchin or something?" she turned to help me put the rest of the plate away, and soon we were all done, "I went every Sunday, nice and proper,"

"What, once a week?"

The girl nodded at us and I studied her carefully, she was clever, perhaps knowing more than she should have done, and there was something...different about her. She held her self different to other people that I had seen in this time so far. There was a carefree sway in her step, and she seemed to thrum with life and energy. She should have been doing something else, not condemned to live a life as a servant. She leaned forward, "We had to do sums and everything," she smiled, secretive now, "To be honest...I hated every second,"

Rose laughed, "Me too," she looked at me, "I suppose there had to be someone in our family who liked being around books," she placed an arm around me, "Alice here has practically read every book in the library. Only dropped out cause you were too much trouble, wasn't it?" I smiled tightly, not really wishing to get into the topic of why Alice had left school. I wished that I had stayed on at school, maybe made a little more than what I had been doing before I had met the Doctor. But then everything happened for a reason...maybe meeting the Doctor was merely a consequence of not staying on at school.

Gwyneth smiled, "Don't tell anyone...but one time, I didn't go. I ran away down the Heath, all on my own," she sounded wistful. Like she wanted to revisit those times of childhood when she could do whatever she wanted to do.

"Oh, we did plenty of that," Rose waved a hand, "Alice and I used to go round the shops with our mate, Shareen. We'd go looking at boys," another side glance at me, "Or anyone else that took our fancy," I cracked a smile at that, pushing at her lightly.

"Oh well I don't know much about that, miss," Gwyneth denied, turning away from us. Victorian values coming to the forefront again. I don't think that I would have managed to live in this time without causing some outrageous thing. I'd probably end up burning down a house by accident or something.

"Oh come on," I smiled at her, deciding to place my voice into the conversation, "These times can't have changed an awful lot," I sat on the side of the counter, the material of my dress hiked up so I didn't trip over it or anything, "It's only us here, I'd wager that you've looked at someone," she blushed lightly, "You can tell us," my smile turned into a grin, "I bet you've got your eye on someone,"

"Well," she turned back to us, "I suppose," she was incredibly shy, "There is this one lad. The butcher's boy, comes by every Tuesday afternoon," she sighed, looking off into the distance and Rose nudged me again, and I pushed her lightly back, "Such a lovely smile on him,"

"Oh, I like a nice smile," Rose nodded along with the Welsh girl, "Good smile and a nice bum,"

Gwyneth burst out laughing, "Well I have never heard the like!"

"Give him a cup of tea," I advised her, "Invite him in or something, get talking to him," I leaned forward, "And then if he likes you then he'll ask you out. It'll be a start for instance," I shrugged lightly, "What do I know, but there's more in this life than undertakers and blue spirits," I couldn't exactly talk about romantic relationships, I hadn't had that many to be honest. I had thought that I had fallen in love with a boy when I was fourteen but that was never serious, and then I had a huge crush on a friend of mine who hadn't exactly returned that viewpoint when I had told her about it. After that there hadn't been anyone else, flirting a bit but never going far enough to truly count as a proper relationship. Maybe I was just too afraid of getting hurt.

"I swear," Gwyneth was saying, "It's the strangest thing, both of you," I tensed slightly, wondering what she was going to say about both of us, "You've got all the clothes and the breeding. But you both talk like some sort of wild thing," I was somewhat mollified by that. It just showed how the two worlds were truly apart from each other. In our time, this would just be a normal conversation, but in another time...this time, it was scandalous and something to be whispered about.

Rose looked down, also slightly downcast, "Perhaps that's a good thing," she suggested, shrugging lightly, before moving forward to the girl, "You need more in your life than Mr Sneed,"

Gwyneth looked at her reproachfully, "Now that's not fair," she admonished her softly, "He's not so bad, old Sneed. He was very kind in taking me in, because I lost mam and dad to the flu when I was twelve," Rose opened her mouth to apologise, "Thank you, but it's all right," a smile shone onto her face, "But I'll be with them again, one day. Sitting with them in Paradise. I shall be so blessed," Ahh, religious background, of course, "They're waiting for me," she smiled, "Maybe your dad's waiting up their too,"

I let go of the plate that I was holding before catching it quickly. I hadn't heard anyone mention my father's name in a very long time. And I hadn't exactly wanted to hear it for a good long while yet, "Maybe..." Rose was cautious, and slightly suspicious, "I'm sorry, who told you that he was dead?"

The girl shrugged, turning to the sink, "I don't know, it must have been the Doctor,"

"The Doctor doesn't know that our father died," I told her calmly, my hands suddenly very still, "We haven't said that our father died, not to anyone really," I looked at her calmly, the feeling that she knew something, growing ever so stronger, "He's been dead for years..."

"But she's been thinking about him lately," Gwyneth nodded at Rose, "More so than ever," she turned back to me, "Not you though, you don't think of him at all, you try not to think about him ever," I looked at her silently, "You don't think about either your parents an awful lot,"

"I suppose so," I answered her, a cold note entering my voice. I didn't want to talk about a father that I never knew; I didn't want to talk about a mother that never spoke of it. This conversation was going down a route that I did not want to follow. Not now...not ever...never again, "I must apologise, but how do you know this?"

Gwyneth laughed nervously, "Mr Sneed says I think too much," she told us, "I'm all alone down here. It's only me and my own thoughts. Nothing else," she summoned up a smile, "I bet you've got loads of servants where you're from,"

Rose laughed a high nervous sound that didn't sound entirely normal. The mention about our father had thrown her off balance and she was trying to find a grip that would never come, "There's no servants where we come from," she assured her, "Not a single one,"

"And you've come such a long way," Gwyneth said, and I looked at her calmly. This girl was not who she said she was. She knew things that no one else knew...knew of a father that was long dead. Did she know where we had come from? "You're from...London," she wasn't blinking and her hands had stilled on the cloth that she was holding, "I've seen London in drawings but never like that, all those people rushing about...half naked for shame. So much noise," her voice was awestruck and I straightened, prepared to run or to throw something if it got out of control. She knew about our London, the London of the twenty first century. How? "Those metal boxes, racing past...and those birds in the sky...No!" she stepped forward, "They're metal as well. Iron birds with people inside! People are flying!" she looked at me suddenly, "And you...you'll fly so far...further than your sister, further than anyone has ever gone before...all the way forward to the end of time itself. And all the way back to the beginning. The things you will know, and discover...the darkness...the pain...the big bad wolf," she stumbled back, and I realised that I was frozen to my seat, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, miss,"

"It's all right," Rose seemed to recover herself and moved forward to help the girl who was clearly as frightened as I felt. Adrenaline was thrumming through me, and I had a very, very bad feeling about everything. What lay in store for me...? I would see the beginning and the end of time? And what was this about a big bad wolf? Suddenly going home felt like a very wise idea.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it," Gwyneth was babbling now, scared into almost hyperventilation, "Ever since I was a little girl. Mam said I'd got the sight. She told me to hide it!"

"But it's getting stronger," I let out a squeak when I heard the Doctor's voice, my heart still going a mile a minute. It wasn't exactly a loud entrance, and I half suspected that it was due to my creeping up on him earlier. The Doctor moved forward, "More powerful? Am I right?" Gwyneth nodded shakily, "You've grown up on top of the rift. You're part of it. You're the key,"

"I've tried to make sense of it, sir," she tried to explain, "I've consulted with spiritualists and table rappers and all sorts,"

The Doctor smiled at her, "Well that should help, you can show us what to do," we all frowned at him, "We're going to have a séance," I sighed, my head dropping into my hands. There wasn't going to be any chance that he was possibly going to say: dinner? Of course not, this was the Doctor and the world of monsters and apparently mind reading girls. There was no way that there was going to be a possible answer that didn't involved something supernatural.

Rose and Gwyneth moved past him as he gestured them into the living room, to where...no doubt, he had already got the table and chairs out for our little soiree into the realm of the mystical. I looked up at him, still feeling tremors flickering through me, "I just need some time to breathe," I told him, honestly.

"Are you all right?" he asked me, "I heard what she said to you," I merely looked up at him, "Don't dwell on it. It could mean a hundred different things,"

"Yes, because seeing the beginning and end of time is in itself something that can mean a hundred things," I couldn't help but reply sarcastically, "It's a common phenomenon in my life that I see the beginning and end of something," I hugged myself, "That isn't what scared me...she knew about the wolf,"

"I thought that was just a metaphor," he answered, shrugging, "Does it mean anything to you?"

"Terrified of them," I admitted, looking at him, confessing the one thing that I had kept close to me for a very long time, "Couldn't stand Little Red Riding Hood when I was a child. Used to have nightmares about them. I never told anyone but Rose about it. I didn't know that she could have possibly known about it," he folded his arms, interested, "I know for a city person, it's an irrational fear. I'm as unlikely to meet a wolf in my life, but there's something about them that I can't stand. I've never liked them. And with everything else that she mentioned..."

He placed a hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry," he told me, "If it makes you feel better I'll make sure that there won't be any wolves on the TARDIS," I smiled slightly, "Come on, we need to delve into the supernatural,"

* * *

We were all sat around the table, Gwyneth sitting at the head of it. I was sitting next to her, slightly nervously. I liked the girl, I really did, but it was slightly scary when she says a deeply buried fear right in front of you. I was nervous about what else she was going to say. Doing this séance wasn't exactly the sanest thing I had done either, but it appeared that we were going to go through it anyway. I had to admit that I was excited about it. It wasn't everyday one got to see a real séance...that actually worked.

"I've seen it done, sir," Gwyneth was telling the Doctor, who was sitting next to Rose on the other side of Gwyneth, "This is how Madame Morlock summons them from the lands of mist down in Butetown," she held out her hands, towards us, "Come. We must all join hands,"

I sighed, taking her hand. Better to get it out and over quickly than to make a fuss. I had never believed in the spirits from the other side anymore than I believed in the supernatural, but this wasn't exactly the same. These were aliens...or so I presumed. Of course one of our party still hadn't gotten over his thought on this side of the world, "I can't partake in this," Charles announced.

"Humbug," the Doctor answered, and I smiled at the familiar term. He couldn't help but mention that particular line, "Come on...open mind," I looked at Charles who was standing behind the chair on the other side of me.

"But this is precisely the sort of cheap mummery I strive to unmask. Séances!" he scoffed, "Nothing but luminous tambourines and a squeezebox concealed beneath the knees," he waved a hand in the direction of Gwyneth, "The girl knows nothing!"

"Now don't antagonise her," the Doctor took on a bracing attitude, "I love a happy medium," Rose and I both looked at him, and I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing, "Come on," he nodded at the empty chair, "We might need you," Charles sighed, before sitting next to me and placing his hand in mine, "Good man," he turned to look at Gwyneth, "Now...reach out," the girl closed her eyes, breathing heavily, trying desperately to make the connection.

"Spirits," she spoke the words quietly, but in this room, you could have heard a baby mouse sneeze, and so her voice carried far, "Speak to us. Are you there?" I felt a rising shiver crawl up my spine, one bit at a time. What we were doing felt wrong. We shouldn't have been doing it. There was something...not quite right about it, "Spirits come to us. Speak to us that we may relieve your burden,"

There was a definite chill in the air now, and a faint whispering that echoed around the room. I shifted in my seat, "Can you hear that?" Rose asked us.

"Nothing can happen," Charles insisted, "It's sheer folly," but he was wrong, in the air around Gwyneth there was a swirling blue light, the same as the spectres that had been at the theatre and in the room where Rose had been.

The whispering got louder, "What is it saying?" I asked.

"It can't get through the rift," the Doctor realised moving towards Gwyneth, "Gwyneth, it's not controlling you, you're controlling it," his voice was slightly urgent, as if he needed to hear what these wraiths had to say to us, "Now look deep, allow them through," Gwyneth shook her head slightly, "You can do this. Just believe in it. I have faith in you, Gwyneth. Make the link,"

"Yes!" her voice was triumphant as she managed to create the link so that the spirits could come through.

Behind her three of them rose up, billowing blue creatures, transparent but ethereally beautiful. Like they were made from water and air...they definitely weren't human but they appeared to have a humanoid figure. They also appeared human. All around us a fierce wind seemed to have picked up, the windows rattling in their frames. I tightened my fingers around the two hands that held onto me, needing a faint sense of security. I felt Charles tighten his fingers as well. At least I wasn't the only one.

"Great Gods," Sneed seemed to be also slightly fearful of the creatures, "Spirits...from the other side,"

"The other side of the universe," the Doctor corrected, and I looked at him. Did he know where these creatures came from? But looking at him, it appeared that he didn't know just knew that they must have come a very long way.

And then Gwyneth spoke, but it wasn't exactly Gwyneth, but a high soprano of a voice, the wraith's presumably, but it was a blend of different voices, like it hadn't exactly settled, _"Pity us! Pity the Gelth! There is so little time! Help us!"_ it was a female voice, and seemed to be in such pain.

"What do you want us to do?" the Doctor leaned forward towards the Gelth...for that was what their race was. I would have to remember that.

"_The rift,"_ the middle Gelth spoke, _"Take the girl to the rift. Make the bridge,"_

"What for?" I asked them, and the face turned towards me, "Why should we take Gwyneth anywhere? How do we know what will happen to her?" I looked at the Doctor, "We don't know anything about these creatures; we don't even know where they're from, or what they want us for,"

"_We are so very few,"_ The Gelth told us, _"The last of our kind, we face extinction,"_

"Why, what happened?" the Doctor demanded,

"_Once we had a physical form, like you. But then the war came,"_

"The war?" that was from Charles, who seemed to have gotten over his fear and awe of the creatures in front of him. Now that he had legitimate proof that we weren't all making it up as we went along, or that it was an illusion of some kind, he seemed to have come around to asking the Gelth questions.

"_The Time War,"_ those three words make me look over to the Doctor who met my eyes back squarely, although I knew that the mention of the Time War would have provoked a painful reaction. His eyes were carefully masked from anything that someone could have uncovered. But I knew...I knew that he was hurting. And so I dropped my gaze, turning back to the Gelth, _"The whole universe convulsed. The Time War raged; invisible to smaller species, but devastating to higher forms. Our bodies wasted away. We're trapped in this gaseous state,"_

"So that's why you need the corpses," the Doctor's voice was firm, not letting anything show through his voice.

"_We want to stand tall,"_ they said to us, _"We want to feel the sunlight again. To live again," _I didn't care that they wanted to do this...something wasn't right about this whole debacle and although I didn't mind that they wanted to use corpses for their new bodies, I did mind that we knew almost next to nothing about them. We didn't even know which planet they come from...or which side of the War they had fought on, _"We need a physical form and your dead are abandoned, they go to waste. Give them to us,"_

"But we can't," I looked over to Rose, who looked as troubled as I felt, "I mean it's not...we can't," she seemed to be having trouble saying what she wanted to say. But I knew that she was bringing up the issue of the use of the dead bodies.

"Not decent?" the Doctor inquired, raising an eyebrow, "Not polite? It could save their lives,"

Gwyneth suddenly groaned in pain, and the wind seemed to be dying down now. The light around the Gelth was flickering as well...the connection was losing power, _"Open the Rift. Let the Gelth through,"_ they wailed to us before they started to fade, _"We're dying, help us! Pity the Gelth,"_

Gwyneth slumped forward in a dead faint, and I placed a hand to her neck in order to check that she was still breathing. Luckily she still was. I can't have imagined how it felt, channelling such a power force through her. The Gelth didn't look small.

Silence reigned around the small table and I noticed that Charles was shaking slightly, "Are you all right?" I asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He sighed deeply, "It's all true," he said mournfully, "It's all true,"

And that, I thought, summed up pretty much the whole of the experience.

**So what did people think? It's always nice to hear what people think of the story, because then I know what people like and what people dislike, and I can try and shape the story around those ideas. And on another note...fifty one people are following this story, which makes me very happy. Hugs to all of you, and all my thanks for sticking around with this story.**


	14. The Unquiet Dead: Part 4

**So I'm back, nearly a week since the last update, I think. Entering exam mode, so I'm going to reserve Fridays for writing a new chapter. We'll see how it goes. And nearly finished with the Unquiet Dead as well. I quite liked this episode. Thank you so much for the people that reviewed the last chapter. For the people that asked about the Bad Wolf, I have an idea that I'm developing about it, but it's still being kicked around inside my head.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

The Unquiet Dead: Part 4

"You cannot be serious," Rose was saying to the Doctor who frowned, "You can't let them use her for something that you don't know what for,"

We were having a problem with the issue of using the dead bodies for the Gelth to use. Rose was firmly against it. The Doctor was firmly for it. Charles was pondering the existence of everything that he had ever encountered before, and I was torn between two differing opinions. On one hand, waste not, want not. The dead weren't being used for anything per say, but I could see why it could be a serious problem for some people. On the other hand, I was nearly one hundred percent that there weren't any blue gas creatures inside corpses in the twenty first century. I was reluctant to do anything that meant that my world was changed in any way.

There was also the problem of Gwyneth. I wasn't quite sure but I was sure that in situations which were usually presented like this, usually the person who was the bridge between two worlds didn't exactly come out of the situation perfectly. And I liked Gwyneth. Nevertheless this argument with the Doctor was going to go around in circles before anything would truly rectify itself. Better to see what everyone's opinion was before we acted, and Charles wasn't being overly helpful, Gwyneth was out cold and Sneed was being quiet in the corner of the room.

"It would save their lives," the Doctor pointed out, "They're dying and I refuse to be the one who would dash their hopes," they both glared at each other, and I decided to busy myself with checking Gwyneth, feeling that she was stirring slightly, "Who are you to say that they should be left?"

"Who are you to say that they should use dead bodies?" she retorted, and it seemed to be a rather stalemate between them. Gwyneth's eyes fluttered open and Rose broke the glare to attend to her, "It's all right, you're just asleep,"

Gwyneth frowned at us and then bolted upright. I caught her gently, making sure that she was all right. I tried to think back to the first aid presentation that had been shown to me in school, but the only thing I could remember was to consult a Doctor. I didn't think the Doctor was exactly a Doctor of Medicine, "My angels, miss!" Gwyneth said, "They came, didn't they? They need," she was speaking rapidly, all in one long breath. I decided that she was probably fine but should remain in the bed for a little while longer.

"They do need you, Gwyneth," the Doctor stepped closer to the sofa, looking at the girl lying there. I tensed slightly, neither Rose nor the Doctor were really taking Gwyneth's choice into the equation, pushing for her to take their own side, "You're their only chance of survival-"

"Back off," I warned him, and he looked at me with slight surprise. I hadn't said anything against his proposal yet. Rose beamed at me, before her smile faded when I looked at her pointedly, "Both of you leave her alone for a few minutes. She's exhausted, and she's just managed to contact aliens from the other side of the universe. You," I pointed at the Doctor, "She's not going to be fighting your battles for you. And you," I moved my finger to point at Rose, "Let her make her own choice in this. Neither one of you are going to foist your opinions on her," I turned back to Gwyneth, handing her a glass of water, "You better drink this, you've been asleep for a while,"

I had at least shut the argument down for a few more minutes at least. The lull in the conversation allowed for Sneed to pipe up from his overly stuffed armchair. I hadn't failed to notice that he hadn't helped in helping Gwyneth, "What did you say, Doctor?" he asked the man, "Explain it again, what are they?"

"Aliens," the Doctor said bluntly, and I withheld a smile at that. He was clearly impatient to be doing something. I didn't think he would ever be able to keep properly still when it came to something like this. He would much rather do something than talking about it.

"Like foreigners, you mean?" Sneed pressed him, and I did chuckle at that. I really shouldn't, but eighteenth century minds were so close minded. It made me want to ask the Doctor whether we could bring someone from now to my time and see how they would react. The fall out probably wouldn't be very good, but it was something to think about. Very interesting from an academic point of view. Still something to think about...maybe later.

I drew myself back to the conversation in front of us as the Doctor tried to find the words that would properly explain what exactly the Gelth were in relation to location, "Pretty foreign, yeah," he told Sneed finally, "From up there," he pointed upwards. Well that was a way to explain it simply.

"Brecon?" I shook with suppressed laughter at Sneed's words and bit down on my lip in order to stop myself from laughing outright.

"Close," the Doctor answered with a smile, before taking the analogy further, "And they've been trying to get through from Brecon to Cardiff, but the road is blocked," he waved his hands slightly, and I watched him carefully from the chair I had next to the sofa, "Only one or two can slip through, and even then, they're weak, they can only test drive the bodies for so long," test drive, he made it sound like it was extremely easy, "They have to revert to gas, and hide in the pipes,"

"That's why they need the girl?" Charles asked from his chair.

"They're not having her," Rose said firmly and we all turned to look at her. She didn't falter under the careful observation, "I don't care what you said; they are not having her as a bridge so they can possess dead people,"

"But she can help," the Doctor implored her, before looking at Gwyneth, "Living on the rift has made her a part of it," he shrugged, and I leant on my knees, my chin in the palm of my hand, watching him carefully, "Gwyneth can open up the rift, make a bridge and let them through,"

Charles sighed deeply, and I flicked my eyes at him, "Incredibly," he chuckled slightly and then addressed the rest of the room, "Ghosts that are not ghosts, but beings from another world. Only able to exist in our realm by inhabiting cadavers..."

"I can't say it's my favourite way of doing things," I murmured, and then cleared my throat, looking at Rose, "You have to admit it, Rose. It could very well work for the Gelth. It's a good...system. The bodies aren't technically being used, and the Gelth need somewhere to stay for the time being," I drifted my eyes over to the Doctor, "I am, however, not particularly happy about letting the Gelth roam around Earth unchecked. We don't know anything about them,"

"They need help," the Doctor said, "Every minute they're dying and we're running out of time. I don't want to be responsible for their deaths when we can so easily prevent it from happening. It's something that I'm not going to let happen. It's like recycling,"

"But you can't," Rose inputted, "You can't let them run around inside dead people," we both looked at her and I ponder on the seriousness of the debate. It was repugnant to allow something or someone to possess a dead body, simply because they had been people that lived and breathed, laughed and loved. And it was a very odd concept to have a family relative dead and then revived again but with a different person inside. But on the other hand, the Doctor did say that the Gelth probably didn't have long to live. Dilemma, dilemma, dilemma, "Seriously though, you can't," she continued.

"Seriously though, I can," the Doctor snapped back, and I sighed, placing my head in my hands once again. This conversation was going to do my head in if I didn't find a way to properly solve it without Rose or the Doctor blowing up at each other. It seemed like a rather likely note.

"But it's just wrong though," Rose told the Doctor firmly, "Those bodies were living people. We should respect them, even in death," I nodded my agreement to that. There was something to respecting another person in death and in this instance; it wasn't like we were asking the dead people if they didn't mind us using their body for an alien from outer space.

"Do you carry a donor card?" the Doctor demanded of her, and Rose made a frustrated noise.

I decided to put my two cents in, "That's a different kettle of fish, Doctor," I informed him, "Donor cards are the choice of people, not the people that are left behind. No one has asked the corpses whether they want to be used. And donor cards are used for science, to further research. They're not getting possessed by aliens who currently live halfway across the universe. If the people want their bodies to be in use for a Gelth then fine, but you can't just dictate it to the whole of the human race. It's a completely different thing,"

"Yeah, it is different," he answered me, "It's a different morality," he wasn't understanding the different argument here, and it was starting to annoy me just a little, "Get used to it, or go home," we stared at each other, and I refused to back down. I knew that my opinion was a fair and valid one, just like the one that he had just spouted, and if I was being honest with myself, I was a little hurt. The last time anyone had told me to basically shut up and sit down was when I was twelve and I was asking a question in my history class. Same feeling of hurt then...maybe I just had a problem with the authority of such a command, and unlike when I was twelve years old; I wasn't going to let the Doctor win over this argument.

"Not easy, is it, my dear?" Charles asked and both the Doctor and I broke the gaze together as we turned to look at him, "This new world," his tone of voice was slightly reverent and in awe of what was being revealed to him in the course of this evening, "Oh, I was so sure of myself. The great Dickens! Every day, checking the papers for my name," he sighed again, his voice turning back to despondent, "Such vanity. When I'm nothing but an old fool,"

"I wouldn't say that," I replied gently, "There's nothing wrong with staying in this world," I thought on his words, "And I don't think that you're an old fool. An old fool wouldn't be able to write all those books. But I suppose there's always the aptitude to learn more. There's nothing wrong with learning more all the time,"

"But learning what?" he asked of me, "That I'm a spent force? That this addled brained scribbler is no longer use nor ornament?" he looked deep into his glass of sherry, "I didn't need you tell me that, Miss Alice. I've known that for a very long time now,"

The Doctor looked at Rose, "You heard what they said. Time is short," he told her, "I can't worry about a few corpses when the last few Gelth could be dying,"

That didn't exactly sway Rose over to the Doctor's side on this matter, "I don't care," she reiterated firmly, folding her arms, "They and you are not using her," she was speaking rather slowly, as if to get it through his skull and embed the words somehow into his brain. I found it slightly amusing, if not a small bit patronising. I remember when she used to use it on me. Older sister versus the younger sister. Privileges that lay with the older child. I didn't envy her.

"Don't I get a say, miss?" we all turned to look at Gwyneth, still lying there on the bed, still looking rather pale and wan from her previous experience with the Gelth.

"Well, yes," Rose said, "But you don't understand what is going on,"

"Well you would say that miss, because it's very clear inside your head that you think I'm stupid," Rose gaped at the girl's words which were surprisingly not resentful or annoyed. She was simply just stating them as they were fact. And somehow I knew that she was saying fact to my sister. Maybe the eighteenth century wasn't the only period in time that had prejudices of certain class. I was guilty as much as Rose in that respect, people who had only gone to school once a week had the slight disadvantage to someone who had gone every day, but I was learning that cleverness came to many different people. Gwyneth was clearly intelligent, simply from the way that she knew things, "It's true though. A simple child, that's what I am to you. Things might be very different where you come from, but here and now I know my own mind. And my angels need me" she looked at the Doctor, "What do I have to do?"

"You don't have to do anything," the Doctor at least was relenting on that particular front of not demanding that Gwyneth had to do something. I supposed she was probably sick to death of being told what to do all the time, especially with Mr Sneed and the job that she had to do every single day.

But Gwyneth seemed firm about helping the Gelth cross over the bridge and into our world, "They've been singing to me since I was a child," she told us, and the wonder in her voice almost made me smile. She only wanted the chance to help, "Sent by my mam on a holy mission, so tell me,"

"We need to find the rift," immediately by that sentence, I knew that whatever the answer was, I wasn't going to like it. I wasn't being particularly rude or anything, but I didn't think we had a particularly good track record in places where important things lay. The Nesteen Consciousness was in a cellar under London. The switch which turned on the air conditioning on Platform One was on the opposite side of the fans, and now we were in an undertaker's and we had to find something again. I didn't feel hopeful, "This house is a weak spot," the Doctor informed us, pacing around the room, energy clearly bounding around him, "So there must be one spot that's weaker than any other. Mr Sneed," he turned to the other man, "What's the worst part of this house? The place where the most ghosts have been seen?"

The old man looked troubled, "That would be..." he sighed, "The morgue,"

Forget what I said about not being hopeful. That statement dampened the whole of my evening. I mean, come on, the morgue. It had to be the one place where you keep cold dead bodies, and apparently a rip in the whole of the universe. I figured we just had really, really bad luck.

"No chance you were going to say gazebo, was there?" I said mournfully and the rest of the company looked at me like I was insane.

* * *

I cornered the Doctor as we were preparing to go down into the cold cellar- I refused to call it the morgue, "You know that theoretically this might save the Gelth from permanent extinction from another part of the universe," I told him, "But clearly it provokes other questions concerning this procedure. What exactly is going to happen once you have made the bridge to the Gelth? Just let them run around inside human bodies for a while?"

"I'll take them to an uninhabited planet," he replied, looking at me honestly, "They can grow and live and be...Gelthlike on their own planet. A new start for them," I nodded slowly, "You're troubled, I didn't think you had a problem with the use of corpses,"

"No, it's not just that," I told him, "Although I do have to admit that the use of corpses gives me shivers and a very strong desire to run away as fast as I possibly could. I don't know...perhaps it's just human nature to be scared of death. It's not exactly natural," he continued his glare, "I mean we're born, we live, we die, and our bodies revert to the soil. Lion King, Gospel One, Chorus. Circle of Life," allowed my shoulders to sag slightly, "But I understand that you need to rescue them, it's perfectly understandable. We just don't know who these aliens are,"

"They're alien," he said, "And they've been affected by the Time War, I can't let them just die. Not like..." he trailed off, his mouth tightly closed.

"But they aren't your people," I finished for him softly, "And as far as I'm concerned, they're not exactly spilling their whole life story to us. I know that there weren't corpses around in the twenty first century society. All I want to know is whether they are able to hold up their side of this bargain we appear to have struck. I like Gwyneth," I pressed him, "And I don't want them to hurt her in any way shape or form, despite the fact that they need her to be a part of this key thing,"

"It will be fine," he assured me, "Everything will work out as it should do. We'll all get out of this safely,"

I looked at him seriously, searching his face carefully for any trace of doubt and then sighed when I saw that he was being surprisingly honest about his intentions. Sighing also seemed to be the action of the day. I was slightly worried about the amount of serious melancholia in this building, "As you wish," I answered him, "I don't particularly like it, but I will go along with this as it seems to be the only option left for the Gelth,"

* * *

The cellar, if I was being particularly polite, was downright, bloody freezing. This, if I thought about it for a minute or two, was really the point of a morgue. It was dark, there was no heating and I was wishing that I had remained in my clothes from the twenty first century because it was at the point where the only thing I could possibly think about was getting warm somewhere. And I wanted to get out of the morgue, which was understandable.

"Talk about Bleak House," the Doctor commented as he went into the room, and I shot him a look, rubbing my arms in order to continue the circulation in them, "No need to get annoyed at me about it,"

Rose stepped up to him, lowering her voice, "Thing is Doctor, the Gelth don't succeed," she said to him, "I know they don't succeed. I know for a fact that there weren't any corpses running around in 1869, so they can't have come through the Rift,"

"Time is in flux," he answered, "Changing every second. Your comfy little world," he snapped his fingers, "Could be rewritten like that," she stepped back, "Nothing is safe. Remember that," I rocked back on my feet, not liking the sound of the whole timeline being rewritten. Would I even exist if it got rewritten? I remembered something about if someone stepped on a butterfly they could change the course of human history. I felt sorry for the butterfly, but I knew I'd feel even worse for myself if I wasn't alive anymore, "Nothing,"

"Doctor..." we all looked at Charles, who folded his arms tightly against his chest, "I hope you don't mind, but is it me...or is the room getting colder?" I looked around, hearing the whispers and chatters that seemed to pour from the walls.

"I guess this is it," I answered him, watching as the gas lamps flickered sharply, the blue light replacing it as the beautiful image of the Gelth appeared and floated out of the lamp like a bubble before hovering in the middle of the archway, "Promise me you won't hurt her," I said to them.

"_You have come to help!"_ the Gelth said, _"Praise the Doctor! Praise him!"_ they were clearly ignoring me on the subject of Gwyneth, but then I supposed that there was the whole thing about them dying every second now, _"Hurry! Please! So little time! Pity the Gelth!"_

You had to admit, I thought as I watched the flickering blue ghost in front of me, what they were saying was starting to sound a little repetitive. But I pushed that out of my mind and paid attention to the Doctor, "I'll take you somewhere else after the transfer," he informed him, "Somewhere you can build proper bodies. This isn't a permanent solution, all right?"

Gwyneth stepped forward toward them, "My angels," she smiled happily, looking so glad to be finally helping those that had been singing to her throughout the entirety of her short life. It was more than personal to her, "I can help them live,"

"_Here, beneath the arch!"_ the Gelth called, and Gwyneth went to stand underneath it, her face practically glowing with the chance to do something. As soon as she stood in the archway however, light bloomed out behind her, swirling, _"Establish the bridge! Reach out to the void! Let us through!"_

The mere mention of anything remotely connected to something called: the Void, made the hairs on my neck stand up, and I shivered slightly and for once it had absolutely nothing to do with the temperature of the room. The mention of the Void seemed to be something...remote...intangible and downright scary, "Yes, I can see you!" Gwyneth was speaking to the air, seeing things that only she could see on a completely different plane of existence, "Come! Come to me, come to this world, poor lost souls,"

And then light bloomed out her mouth, _"It has begun! The bridge has been made!"_ the Gelth sung behind Gwyneth, _"She has given herself to the Gelth!"_ streams of blue gas seemed to be pouring out of Gwyneth's mouth, Gelth after Gelth. It was a beautiful light display, but I was worried when it appeared that the Gelth didn't seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. More and more were forcing their way through into this world, and I suddenly had a very horrible feeling.

"Doctor," I said to the man standing in front of me, "Forgive me but...there seems to be rather a few more than a limited number," I watched as the Gelth zoomed around the room, "I would even go as far as to say that there were almost an indefinite amount,"

The Gelth in the middle of the room, once looking so lovely and peaceful suddenly transformed itself. It was now larger, flames flickering inside it's body, and it's mouth was crueller, teeth filled, and mocking. It didn't seem like the type of alien that was willing to be accommodating, _"The bridge is open!"_ it announced, and it was far from the airy voice of the previous Gelth. It was rough and clearly masculine, _"We descend! The Gelth will come through in force,"_

"You said you were few in number!" the Doctor shouted at the Gelth and I could see that he was horrified at being tricked by the aliens.

"_A few billion!"_ the Head Gelth crowed at us, _"And all of us in need of corpses!"_ I wasn't too sure on the math, but I didn't think that there was enough dead bodies that we needed to dispose of that would help with the Gelth's problem of physical form.

Sneed stepped forward towards Gwyneth. He was trembling slightly as well, "Now Gwyneth," he told his servant, "Stop this, there's a good girl. Listen to your master! This has gone far enough now, now stop dabbling, child and leave these things alone, I beg of you," All around us the Gelth were zooming into the different dead bodies that had been stockpiling in the room ready for their funerals in the coming days. As soon as they were possessed, I could see their cold dead hands twitch and move.

"Mr Sneed, get back!" Rose shouted, and I saw a corpse dressed in a nightgown grab a hold of the undertaker's throat and slowly throttle him to death. I tried to move forward, but a tight grip on my arm from the Doctor restrained me enough not to go anywhere near him.

"I think it's gone a little bit wrong," the Doctor said and I looked at him incredulously. That was the understatement of the year. And judging by the fact that Sneed was standing up, his eyes rolling in his head, when he had been dead a few seconds ago showed how much that statement had been.

"_I have joined the legions of the Gelth,"_ he rasped, _"Come, march with me,"_ I have to say that I was a little confused. Was the Gelth controlling Sneed the Gelth's personality, or Sneed's personality? It sounded like the second but I knew he had been possessed, _"We need bodies,"_ the dead bodies were walking towards us, _"All of you, dead. The human race, dead, fit only to become our vessels. The Gelth shall march in victory,"_ I wasn't much pleased with that analogy.

"Gwyneth!" the Doctor shouted as we moved back away from the approaching dead, "Stop them! Send them back!" but she couldn't hear us, just being the mouthpiece for more and more Gelth appearing into this world. And we were getting hopelessly outnumbered.

"_Four more bodies!"_ the Head Gelth snarled at us, _"Make them vessels for the Gelth!"_

"Forgive me," I said wryly, looking at the dead that were approaching us and backing us into a corner, "But I am very reluctant for that to happen," I noticed that Charles had been split away from us, "In fact, I think it's the last thing on earth that I want to happen to me,"

"I'm sorry, Doctor, Miss Alice," I looked over to Charles who was now in the doorway, free to leave, "But I can't. I'm too old! Your new world is too much for me. I'm so sorry..." and then he just disappeared, running through the house. I wasn't much impressed with him, if I was being honest. But then if one person out of all of us was the most important, then it would be a tie between Charles Dickens and the Doctor. At least one of them managed to get out.

And the dead were still gaining on us.

"Into the sluice!" the Doctor quickly opened a metal grill, and we all bundled into it, slamming the grate shut, and preventing the oncoming dead to properly get to us. They stayed at the door, shaking it to try and get into the little place where all three of us were.

"It was a good idea," I admitted to the Doctor, "However we don't have any way of getting out," I looked at him, "And eventually, that grate is going to give way,"

**So one more chapter left concerning the Unquiet Dead. I have to say that this is one of my favourite episodes, but am looking forward to doing the next episodes. Particularly Father's Day.**

**Till Next Time.**


	15. The Unquiet Dead: Part 5

**Last chapter on the Unquiet Dead and then it's the first two parter! Loving every second of writing this story, and loving the feedback that everyone gives, even if it's just merely putting this story onto an alert for them.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

The Unquiet Dead: Part 5

Basically, it didn't look so good. We were trapped in a sluice being attacked by corpses that were being possessed by blue gas aliens, protected by only a flimsy grate. Gwyneth was still channelling the spirits that seemed to be growing ever vastly in number. Charles seemed to have run off back to whether he came from, which both disappointed me as well as infuriated me. And Mr Sneed was dead, and banging on the grate with the rest of the death. We were going to die in a basement.

"_Give yourself to glory!"_ the Gelth seemed to have a habit as speaking as one, _"Sacrifice your lives to the Gelth!"_ there wasn't any chance of any one of us three willingly giving up our bodies to be possessed, so that was a rather invalid point.

"I trusted you," Despite being right about the fact that the Gelth might not be trustworthy, I felt no triumph in showing the Doctor that he was wrong in believing the Gelth's story. And from one look at his face, I knew that I would never willingly give him cause to betray his trust. It was one thing to be openly against the Doctor but it appeared that it was a thousand times worse if you had fooled him into trusting and believing in him. The anger on his face would strike fear into any living man, "I pitied you!"

"_We don't want your pity!"_ Unfortunately for the Gelth it appeared that they were incapable of truly fearing the Doctor. Well, they were possessing the dead, and they had us trapped in a tiny corner of the room. Fear must be hard to feel when it appeared that you were going to win, _"We want this world and all its flesh!"_

"Not while I'm alive," the Doctor swore.

"_Then live no longer," _They all replied and it only served for them to attack the grate with more enthusiasm than before. I couldn't help but run over all the fact when it came to the Gelth. Surely eventually the bodies that they were possessing would rot anyway, and then the Gelth would be left once more with no way of getting a physical form. I doubted there was another rift that they would be able to travel through. Or another girl to allow them safe passage through like Gwyneth had done.

I held onto one last hope, "Doctor..." the man next to me turned towards me, "I was born in the twentieth century...I haven't even been born yet, so I can't die in 1869. It's impossible for me to die, isn't it?" he looked down, "Tell me I can't die, Doctor...that Rose and I can't die when we haven't even been born," he didn't answer me, "It's 1869, how is it possible that Rose and I can die now?"

"Time isn't a straight line," he informed us, his tone mournful and sad, "It can twist into any shape it likes. You can be born in the twentieth century and die in the nineteenth. All because of me," he looked ahead, "I'm sorry; I was the one who brought you both here,"

"It's not your fault," Rose swallowed heavily, "We both wanted to come,"

"And what about me?" his voice had turned to a painful note, his expression almost devastated, "I saw the fall of Troy. World War Five," he chuckled lightly, "I was pushing boxes at the Boston Tea Party. Now I'm going to die in a cellar," he sounded almost offended, "In Cardiff,"

I couldn't help but laugh, "Not exactly the place where I wanted to die if I'm honest," I said, looking as the grate shuddered lightly. My shoulders slumped down, "And you know, it's not the dying that I'm afraid of. Dying is quick and easy. Like falling asleep. It's worse than that. It's becoming one of them," I looked at the corpses, "And being a part of the living dead, I don't want to be part of them. We should have gone to World War One or something like that. At least dying is the only option we have," I looked at both of them, "But we'll go down fighting, won't we?"

"You bet," he told me and took my hand in his. I smiled, taking a hold of Rose's hand as well, "I am so glad I met you," And in that moment, I found that I couldn't look away from him. The cellar didn't matter; the dead trying to kill us didn't matter. All that mattered was that we were safe for these few seconds longer, and his hand was in mind. And I felt in that tiny second...that I was afloat in a world of light and dark, neither of them mattering, only the man in front of me. That amazing...different...mad man. The Mad Man and his Box.

And you know what? Dying in a cellar in Cardiff suddenly didn't seem so bad after all.

What brought me back down to Earth was a banging from the door that suddenly sprung open. Charles charged into the room, a handkerchief pressed to his face, and ran almost immediately to the lamp, turning the light off and producing a hissing from it, "Doctor!" he shouted at us, "The gas! Turn on the gas! All of it! Right now!" Perhaps he hadn't noticed, but we weren't exactly in a position to reach any lamps.

"What are you doing?" the Doctor shouted over to him, as Charles ran to another lantern, turning the gas on and allowing the light to flicker out. I frowned, running through the different possibilities. Gas...he wanted the gas on. The creatures were gaseous, but what?

Charles went on to explain to us, "I might be an old fool, Doctor, but I understand basic science, sir! Turn on quickly. Turn on the gas! Completely flood the place!" And I understood what he was getting at. I remembered the Gelth that had been at the theatre, how it had screamed and then disappeared into the lamp shade.

"Brilliant!" the Doctor grinned wildly, and I knew he was seeing the man that had written those wonderful amazing stories that would forever be written down on page. The creator of some of the greatest stories on Earth, "Gas!"

Rose looked incredulous at the two men who were smiling triumphantly at each other, "So what?" she asked them, "We choke to death instead? I would rather not suffocate in this cellar thank you very much," I didn't think she realised how much she sounded like Mum in that instance, and I promised myself that if I got out of here alive, I would tell her that.

Charles turned on another lamp, "Am I correct, Doctor?" he inquired to the man next to me, "They're gaseous creatures. If you fill the air with gas, it'll draw them out of the host, suck them into the air, like poison to a wound," the possessed corpses suddenly abandoned their post of banging at the grate in front of us and turned towards Charles, walking slowly towards him, "I hope...Oh Lord," he pressed his handkerchief to his mouth again, "I rather hope this theory would be validated soon. If not immediately,"

The Doctor suddenly ripped off a pipe that was behind us, "There's plenty more where that came from," the pipe that he was holding blasted out a loud hiss of gas, and I recoiled at the smell of it. But it seemed to be working with the Gelth. The corpses seemed to be leaving the bodies, the dead falling to the ground, as lifeless as they should have always been in this.

I smiled, opening the gate, "It's working," I said, looking at the Gelth that was surrounding Gwyneth, floating high above her, "What happens now to the Gelth?" I placed a hand over my mouth, trying desperately to breathe through the thick air.

The Doctor ran towards the servant girl, "Gwyneth, send them back!" he shouted loudly above the hiss of gas and the roar of the continuing Gelth. Gwyneth must have heard him because she lowered her arms, and leaned forward towards him, "They lied! They're not angels, they're liars," she frowned at him, clearly not understanding what he was saying, "Look at them! If your mother and father could look down and see this, they'd tell you the same. They'd give you strength, now send them back!"

"I can't breathe," Rose said, placing the material of her skirt to her mouth in an effort to breathe.

"Charles get her out," the Doctor said and though she tried to protest, Rose eventually left the room with Charles. I remained behind, not because I could breathe, but because...I don't know, there was something about this that I needed to hear, something that I needed to know, "Remember that world you saw? Rose and Mary-Anne's world? All those people?" the Doctor told her, "None of it will exist if you don't sent them back through the rift,"

"I can't send them back," she insisted, "But I can hold them," her voice turned suddenly soft, "Hold them in place, hold them here," she held out her hand and I saw a box of matches within it. I moved forward, "Get out and leave this place," she was planning to blow up the whole of the building, sealing the rift.

"You can't do that," I told her, "You can't kill yourself," I looked at the Doctor, "Tell her that she can't blow this place up,"

"Mary-Anne," Gwyneth looked at me, "Alice," I swallowed heavily, "You fell down the rabbit hole faster than your namesake did, didn't you?" I bit my lip, feeling the tears threatening to fall, "But you'll be safe. You're protected; the wolf guards your shadow. It'll always guard your shadow, even when you don't think it's there. You went looking for the rabbit, and you found a whole universe instead. I've seen inside your head, and it's amazing. Trust your feelings; they'll lead you through the maze," she smiled, "Get out of here,"

I shook my head silently. I couldn't let her be left here alone, "Mary-Anne, get out," the Doctor ordered me, "Go now, I promise you that I will not leave her here while she is in danger, you understand me?" I nodded sharply, "Now run for the street and keep running until you find Rose and Charles. I promise that I'm not letting anyone else die today,"

I looked at him, before nodding and running out of the door and up the stairs. The whole house stunk like gas, and I ran as fast as I could in order to get away from the potential explosion. I knew the Doctor would make sure that Gwyneth was all right, but I couldn't help but want to run back the way I had just came in order to help in any way I could. I paused at the doorway looking back, and seeing the Doctor run towards me, "Doctor?" I called towards him.

"Out now!" he shouted, catching my hand and pulling me out of the house just as a flame erupted and ignited the whole house. The force of the explosion knocked us off our feet and we landed in the snow outside a now burning undertakers. There was no Gwyneth with us. I stared at the Doctor as I climbed up silently demanded an explanation. He said that he would get her out. He promised, "I'm sorry," he told me quietly, "She closed the rift,"

"At such a cost," Charles said mournfully, "The poor child,"

I still didn't understand, and I just stared at the Doctor. He had said he would get her out, "I did try," he assured me vehemently, "But..." he seemed almost lost, "She was already dead," I frowned, not understanding what he was saying. How could Gwyneth have been dead, she talked to us, she had talked to me, "I examined her," he went on, "Gwyneth had already been dead for at least about five minutes,"

"But..." Rose stepped forward, "What do you mean?"

"I think she was dead the moment she stood in that arch," he confessed, and suddenly everything that I had ever known went completely out of the window. There was nothing in the entire world that could explain how Gwyneth could have talked to us when she was dead. She hadn't been possessed...she hadn't been part of the Gelth, so how had she...?

"But..." Rose was still thinking it over, having the same problem as I was with this concept, "She can't have been. She spoke to us...she helped us! She saved us?" I looked at the burning house, the flames still licking the charred wood, "How could she have done all that?"

Charles chuckled, "There are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy," he recited and I couldn't help but chuckle at the reference to Hamlet. It seemed to be oddly appropriate for this time. God, I hoped that I never meet Shakespeare. If this trouble came along with Charles Dickens, then it would be a hundred times worse if Shakespeare would be involved, "Even for you, Doctor,"

"She saved the world," I said, never sounding so tired before in my life, "A servant girl from 1869, a girl that should have lived a long and happy life. She saved the world, and my world," I swallowed the bitterness of the injustice, "And no one will ever know. No one will know of what she did for all of us,"

I could feel the pricking of tears in my eyes again, and felt the Doctor take my hand, "We know," he answered me, "We know, and we will remember. We won't let her memory die forgotten," I nodded sharply, brushing my eyes from the tears. And there we stood; all four of us. The writer, the Doctor, and the two shop girls out of their time. We all stood in the snow, and the night, watching the flames and remembering the girl that had died.

* * *

The walk back to the TARDIS was brisk and uninterrupted. None of us really wanted to talk to each other, all still thinking on the night's events and the possibilities that had opened up another world. I was personally thinking on what Gwyneth had said to me right before I had left the room. It was true that I had slipped down the rabbit hole faster than I had ever thought was possible. I had wanted to be shown a painted version of the world, and I seemed to have ended up with a world that had both angels and demons in it. And there was no going back for me. Not ever. Never again.

I only worried about what she had said to me about the wolf. I know it was a stupid fear, a silly shadow in the corner of my room, but wolves...they unnerved me. And to be told that one dogged my shadow, supposedly protecting me. Well I could think of a hundred different things that would be better to protecting me. I didn't want to die of fright of something that was meant to make sure that I was protected. I didn't even know why I was afraid of a wolf. I hadn't even met one so I couldn't claim an accident when I was a child. All the stories had terrified me, The Boy Who Cried Wolf, The Three Little Pigs, and even that old German fairytale of The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids. Red Riding Hood was probably the worst one of all. My only saving grace with those stories was that the wolf often ended up chopped up, boiled, or stuffed. And now I was protected by a Big Bad Wolf. Brilliant.

We arrived outside the TARDIS, and the Doctor took out his key, smiling at Charles. I would miss him. He was a genuinely nice person and had saved our lives, "If you don't mind, Charlie boy. I've just got to pop into my..." he looked up at the TARDIS, "Err...shed. Won't be long,"

I leaned against the blue wood, "So what are you going to do now?" I asked him, "I mean it is Christmas Eve, you've just seen blue aliens possess dead people, the world has been restored. The balance hasn't been broken. What happens to you now? Where do you go from here?"

"I shall take the mail coach back to London, quite literally post haste," he told us, drawing himself up proudly, "It's the wrong time to be on my own. I shall spend Christmas with my family, and try to make amends. After all I've seen tonight, nothing is more vital,"

The Doctor smiled, "You've cheered up," he noted,

"Exceedingly!" the author was invigorating, he looked about twenty years younger, and so vibrantly alive, "This morning I thought I knew everything in this world. Now I know I've barely started. And what an appetite I have," he sighed deeply, "Doctor, all these huge, wonderful notions I have! I am inspired, I must write about them!"

"Do you think that's wise?" Rose asked him, "You don't want to sound like a lunatic,"

"Oh I will start small, be subtle, at first," he assured her, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood, still lacks an ending. Perhaps the killer was not the boy's uncle, perhaps he was not of this earth," he sounded so excited, but I couldn't help by remember the story of Edwin Drood, it never had an ending, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood and the Blue Elementals. I can spread the word and tell the truth!"

"Good luck with it," the Doctor shook the man's hand, smiling at him, "Nice to meet you," and then he said, "Fantastic," I don't think that he could possibly help himself.

"Bye then," Rose kissed his cheek, "And thanks," she joined the Doctor but the door of the TARDIS,

"Oh my dear," Charles blushed slightly, "How modern, thank you,"

I smiled at him, "Thank you for helping us," I said to him, before kissing him on the cheek as well. It was once in a lifetime opportunity, I mean how many people could say that they kissed Charles Dickens on the cheek, "And keep writing, you're absolutely fantastic at it,"

"No, thank you," he told me, "You made me see my books as more than just words on a page. You made me value them more than I ever thought I could," he frowned, "But I don't understand, in what way is this goodbye? Where are you going?"

"Into the shed," I answered, pointing up at the TARDIS, "Not a tight squeeze at all. We'll be gone before you realise that we were ever here," I went to join the Doctor and Rose, as the leather coated man opened the door slightly.

"Upon my word, it is one riddle after another with you," he hesitated and we all looked back at him, "But Doctor, in amongst all these revelations, there's one mystery that you haven't explained to me. Who are you all? Where do you come from?"

The Doctor looked at Rose and me, "We're friends," he said to the man in front of him, "Friends just travelling through,"

"But tell me this," Charles seemed slightly scared of what he was going to ask, "You have such a knowledge of future times. And I won't intrude, but I do have to ask," he looked at us directly, "My books, Doctor, do they last?"

I smiled at that, as did the Doctor, "Oh yes," the Doctor told him.

"For how long?"

I moved forward, taking Charles hand, and smiling at him, "They last forever," I replied to him, "Forever and ever," Charles smiled slowly at me, and I moved to look at the Doctor, "We better be getting off, shouldn't we, Doctor?" the man nodded, "Into the shed we all go," I slipped inside the TARDIS, smiling at the interior of it. Well this had been quite the adventure for the day.

"But doesn't that change history?" Rose asked the Doctor as they came into the console room, and we all crowded around the screen that showed Charles standing outside, "If he starts writing about blue ghosts then that changes the timeline,"

"In a week's time, it'll be 1870," the Doctor explained, "And that's the year he dies. Sorry," he sighed, "He'll never get to tell his story," Rose looked almost devastated, "But in your time he was already dead. We've brought him back to life, and now he's more alive than he's ever been. Old Charlie boy," he flicked some switches and the TARDIS rumbled as she started up, "Let's give him one last surprise, eh?" I smiled as we faded away, leaving Charles in the snow, and with more questions that he ever probably had in his life, "So," the Doctor looked at us, "You've been to both the past and the future. Where do you want to go next?"

"Home," Rose said and we both looked at her, "Not like that, but for more practical reasons," she looked down at herself, "When we left London, we didn't pack anything, we don't even have a toothbrush. And I've seen that wardrobe of yours. Half the things in there aren't exactly...normal. Just need a quick pit stop, yeah?"

The Doctor looked at me, and I nodded in agreement, "I do want to have time to have a shower at some point," I told him. The Doctor was walking around the console, flicking buttons and turning levers, "So home we go then?" I asked.

"Home we go,"

* * *

**And here we go for the Aliens of London and World War Three! Can't wait to upload the next chapter. I think all the stories are going to be in five chapters each. So either way, await the next chapter.**

**Thanks!**


	16. Aliens of London: Part 1

**I'm back! And with Aliens of London, on the usual Friday update. Revisiting all the old episodes really makes me appreciate them a lot more. Thank you for all the love you've shown in reading this and so on we go.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

Aliens of London: Part 1

I stepped out into the sunlight, "Oh sweet ground, I have missed you," I sighed as the queasiness faded. I turned to look back at the Doctor, "Don't you have stabilisers on her to make her run a little bit smoother. You're going to end up killing me," the Doctor merely smiled and shut the door of the TARDIS behind him. I looked around the estate; it was weird being back here again. Nothing had changed, the sun was shining, the posters on the walls fluttered in the slight wind and I could hear the shout of someone high above us; "How long have we been gone?" I asked him, turning in a circle.

He grinned widely at me, "About twelve hours," he checked his watch, "Give or take. It's an imprecise answer to a question but it'll do," I nodded slowly, still looking at up at the sky. It wasn't snowing and it wasn't shining with the light of an expanded sun, but it was still the sky.

"Right," I looked towards Rose, "We won't be long. I just want to see my mum," I nodded reluctantly and decided to follow her to go and see Mum. I suppose it wasn't going to be that difficult. Only popping in to say hello and then grab my stuff in my apartment upstairs.

"What are you going to tell her?" the Doctor asked us.

I chuckled, walking backwards, "Not sure yet," I told him, "That we've been to the year five billion and watched the Earth blow up into a million tiny piece. We've also met Charles Dickens and corpse possessing gas creatures," I waved a hand, "Oh and we've been gone for twelve hours," we all paused, "We'll tell her that we were at a mate's, she won't argue then. Better for everyone involved. I don't suppose you want to meet her?" he raised an eyebrow, "Thought not,"

"See you later, and don't you disappear either," Rose called back to him, and I followed her towards the stairs. I looked back, seeing the Doctor wander around the empty square. I doubted that he could get into any trouble just by looking, but then our track record wasn't the most impeccable either. I walked up the stairs, "So Shareen's then?" Rose turned to me expectantly, and I nodded slowly, "She'd think we were mad if we told her where we had really been,"

"No, she'd just think that I'd been telling some lie again and dragged you into agreeing with me," I corrected, as she dug her keys out of her pockets and fumbled for the correct one, "Then she'd get annoyed that we'd stick to the story before eventually giving up and going to the phone so she could have a long conversation with Bev about how her daughters are ganging up on her. Simple, plain, and repetitive," Rose stuck her tongue out at me as she turned the key, "I think I'll leave the explaining to you this time, might be a little easier,"

"You're such a coward," she teased and I raised my hand in mock surrender, not pretending to deny it. The flat looked exactly the same as it always did, although there seemed to be more leaflets around the place. Mum hadn't cleaned up again, "We're back!" Rose called out to the apparently empty flat, "We were with Shareen, she got all upset again," I sat down on the sofa, picking up a magazine, and leafing through it, "You in?" there wasn't a reply, and my sister turned to me, "Maybe she's out,"

"It's..." I dug out my phone and sighed at the time that was displayed, "Don't ask me that question, my phone says that it's four in the morning, we haven't exactly crossed time zones," Mum walked out of the kitchen, still in her pink bathrobe, "I'd say around ten, maybe eleven, could even be twelve," She was staring at us with a look on her face that would be quite comical in that in that she hadn't said anything, "You look like you've seen a ghost," I remarked to her, going back to the magazine.

"Did we miss anything?" Rose smiled at her, "How have you been?" My head snapped up when Mum didn't answer. She had never been silent for this long; it must have been a world record for her, "What's that face for? It's not the first time we've stayed out all night,"

The mug that she was holding dropped out of her hand, forgotten on the ground, "It's you?" she whispered.

I flung the magazine to the side, standing up, "Of course it's us," I answered her, "It's not like you didn't see us yesterday," Mum couldn't stop staring at us, "What's the matter, Mum? We were at Shareen's," I looked at Rose, making a face and she shrugged. She didn't know what was going on with Mum either.

Mum started to cry, and she flung her arms around Rose who just looked bewildered, "Oh my God, it's you," I turned away from her, frowning at the amount of leaflets that were scattered around the house, "Oh my god," I picked one up, seeing that there was a picture of Rose and me on the front, with the big words: MISSING written in red at the top. There were loads of them scattered around the table, stacked up by the wall. All of them said that we were missing. But we had only been gone twelve hours.

As soon as that thought went through my head, the door burst open and the Doctor ran in full pelt, "It's not twelve hours," he said to Rose and I, "It's twelve months," I stared at him, "You've been gone a whole year," then came that ridiculous grin as if he was almost pleased at missing the correct date, "Sorry,"

I held up the leaflet numbly, "We've been gone a whole year," I said, rather calmly for someone who felt like she was going to be sick. I felt nauseous, "And you didn't notice?" he sighed, pulling a face at me, "Right..." I sat back down onto the sofa, "A year,"

"Where were you?" Mum asked her, and Rose, the Doctor and I all looked at each other. Explaining away twelve hours was fair enough, that was easy, but twelve months was a little bigger. And the only witnesses to the fact that we had been away for that long had been the three of us. At this precise moment, I would have taken the TARDIS at her most shakiness, "Rose, sweetheart?" Mum was still expecting answers, "Where did you go? Why didn't you call me?"

"We were..." Rose cast around for an answer but she seemed to stall on an answer. She didn't want to lie to Mum, especially when she seemed to be in such a state. There was something different about the way she seemed to me, like she was much older. But then she hadn't seen us in a year. Rose was still stalling on an answer.

"Travelling," I finished for her and Mum turned to look at me. I didn't have any qualms about lying to her, and this way I could claim that I wasn't lying to her. We had been travelling, in a fashion, "We were travelling," I clarified, "All three of us,"

"Travelling?" I ran a hand through my black hair, "You expect me to believe that you were travelling?" tear tracks still stained her face and I turned away from her. If I looked at her then I would be tempted to tell her the truth, and the truth was that I didn't think she'd appreciate the truth. Mum visibly pulled herself together, "Please...Alice, don't lie to me, where were you?"

"Travelling," I repeated to her, "We were travelling," I forced myself to look at her, swallowing heavily, "Believe me or not, Rose will guarantee my story," she looked at me hard, staring through me rather than at me, "Please believe me, it's the truth,"

She whirled to look at Rose, "We were travelling Mum," she insisted, standing up to the look on our mother's face, "Please believe us, we really were travelling," we both looked at the Doctor who smiled innocently. He really wasn't helping the situation, "This is the Doctor, Mum. Doctor, this is our mother: Jackie," Mum now looked furious at all three of us, "Please, Mum..." she started, reaching for her.

Mum stepped back, "You're not telling me the truth," I sighed at her words, "Why can't you tell me where you were. You've been gone a whole year!" we were all silent, "Fine...fine," she grabbed the phone, punching the most familiar number into the phone, "If you're not telling me then you're telling the police," she straightened as she was connected, "Hello? This is Jackie Tyler," there was some babble on the end, and Rose met my eyes. This was not going according to plan, "My daughters: Mary-Anne and Rose have just walked in through the door," another babble, "I know they've been missing a year, but they're standing in front of me," a pause, "Thank you," she slammed down the phone, "The police are on their way, do you want to tell me the truth now?" none of us spoke, "I'm getting dressed, and don't you dare think about moving an inch," she stalked from the room.

Rose threw herself into the armchair, "Well that went well," I quipped and she shot a glare at me, "Don't look at me, I'm not the one who threw us off course," I looked up at the Doctor who was milling around, "So how are we going to explain this then, Doctor? We're just going to say we were travelling?"

"I don't suppose there is any alternative," Rose mumbled from her seat, before affecting an upbeat tone, "Don't worry, Mum, we were travelling...in time and space, with an alien and a box that is bigger on the inside. Absolutely no problem," she placed her head in her hands, "She's going to kill me,"

"Correction, she's going to kill both of us," I countered, "And she's probably going to kill you as well, Doctor, well that's if the police don't arrest us all for perverting the course of justice or kidnap or something," Rose let out a moan of horror, "Don't worry, Rose, we're..." there was a knock at the door, "Well, we'll see,"

Mum and a policeman came around the corner into the living room, "Here they all are," she told him, "Alice, Rose and this man is a Doctor. He was with them," she folded her arms, "Maybe you can get them to tell you where they were,"

"You are Mary-Anne and Rose Tyler?" the officer said and Rose and I both nodded, "You've been missing a year, with no indication of where you went. No phone calls, no letters, and no one saw you leave. I must stress that it is extremely important that you tell me where you were and what you were doing. You've been a part of a very long police case,"

"It's like we told our mother, officer," I replied, looking at him straight in the eye. Somehow it was easier to tell him the half lie than it was Mum. Probably because I hadn't ever met him before and hopefully I'd never see him again, if we successfully got out of this mess, "We met the Doctor, we decided to go travelling, and we did," I curled my fingers tightly around each other, "We weren't harmed or coerced into leaving, and technically you have no case, seeing as both Rose and I are over eighteen,"

"Technically?" Mum asked, "You think that's going to cut it, Alice? The hours that I sat here, days and weeks and months, all on my own!" she glared at us; "I thought you were both dead! And where were you?" she laughed derisively, "Travelling," she tapped the policeman on the shoulder, "You ask them, they won't tell me. That's all they say, travelling,"

"That's what we were doing-" Rose tried to input, and I placed my head in my hands as she interrupted Mum. That wasn't a good idea.

"With your passport still in the drawer!" I hadn't ever heard Mum shout at Rose like that since she had accidentally broken a window when she was seven, "It's one lie after the next. Now please tell me!" Rose looked firmly at the floor, "Why can't you tell me?"

"I meant to phone," Rose spoke in a small voice, "I really did," she looked at me, and I sighed, as I looked back, "We just...forgot," Mum threatened to blow up again, "I'm sorry...I really am, but we really did just forget to phone," she was better at lying than I first thought.

"For a year?" Mum was starting to pick up her pace again, "You both forgot for a year? I can expect that of Mary-Anne, she's likely to forget, but you?" I looked down at that, "I thought you'd phone. You forgot for a year and I'm left sitting here," she straightened and pace around the flat, "I just don't believe you both," she spread her arms, "Why won't either of you tell me where you have been? It's not difficult; all you have to do is tell us!"

Finally the Doctor stepped forward, "Look, it's my fault," he said, and we all looked at him, "I sort of employed Rose and Mary-Anne as my companion," it was a good lie, but I doubted that it would sway my mother, and from her face she didn't look very happy with his explanation either.

"When you say companions?" the policeman interrupted, writing down in his notepad, "Is this a sexual relationship," I raised my eyebrow at him and he seemed to realise what he had just said, "With one or the other, I mean to say,"

"No," the Doctor, Rose and I all said immediately. Although we had escaped three plots to basically kill us, I had to remember that Rose and I had only really known the Doctor for a maximum of two days, if we weren't counting blowing up the shop where we worked. And I doubted that anyone really _knew_ the Doctor.

Mum still wasn't impressed, "Then what is it?" she demanded, walking right up to him. I suppressed a smile at the expression that the Doctor was wearing. He genuinely looked intimidated by the smaller woman, "Because you, you waltz in here all charm and smile, and the next thing I know, both my daughters have vanished off the face of the earth," quite literally, "How old are you then? Forty, forty-five? What, did you find her on the internet? Did you go online and pretend you're a Doctor?"

"I am a Doctor," he answered her honestly

"Prove it," she snarled at him, "Stitch this, mate," and she whacked him across the face. The Doctor straightened up and I caught sight of the absolute surprise on his face. I couldn't help but silently smile at it. Unfortunately Mum caught sight of the small smile, "And you...!" I immediately looked down, "I know you've made ridiculous stories up in the past but this is really beyond even what I expected," I didn't answer, "And you've got Rose bleating out the same stupid story. This is not a game, just tell me,"

"I have told you all that I know," I looked at her directly, "Call me out and say that I'm lying? Because you know you can't. I'm telling you the truth, believe it or not," I chuckled humourlessly, "But I forgot, if it's from Alice then of course it's a lie, it's always a lie,"

"You haven't exactly shown yourself to be a paragon of truth," she retorted, "All the time, one lie after the next, and never the whole bloody truth. It's not a game, Alice, you've been gone a year, you're not a child, so tell me the truth,"

I stood up, straightening my jacket, "I find it funny that you going to me for the origin of this story," I told her, "Fine, I don't mind, believe what you want," I looked at the officer, "I am over eighteen, I am allowed to go where I want, and there isn't a law against that. Nothing you do will stand up in any court," I looked at Mum, "I don't know about anyone else, but I'll swear in court that I was travelling with the Rose and the Doctor," her lips tightened, "I'm going up to my flat, is it still open?"

The officer looked startled, "It was taped up, but should be still open. It's still under your name," I nodded, walking out of the flat, and up the stairs. Damn Mum, damn policemen...I looked at the police tape on my door ripped it off, and opened it up. Damn stupid me. I coughed as I walked into the flat, it was filled with dust but everything that I had was still here. I suppose the police hadn't wanted to 'disturb the scene of a crime', but I rubbed my eyes tiredly. This was not my day. But I wasn't going to stay here for very much longer.

I grabbed my suitcase out of the wardrobe and starting filling it with clothes, and possessions, "You're not staying here for much longer?" I looked up to see the Doctor in the doorframe, "Planning on moving out?" I didn't answer, "You know that you can always come in the TARDIS for as long as you want,"

"Thank you," I threw my diary into the case, "Even if I didn't come, I would still move out of here. The world that you've shown me, has told me that I can't still keep standing still. I've got to keep running," I mustered a smile, straightening up, "I'm sorry about your face," he merely shrugged, "Mum doesn't usually use violence, she's more shout and get angry before all is forgiven. Somehow I don't think that will apply to this situation,"

"You don't get along with her?" he asked, and I hugged myself tightly, not bothering to answer, "Younger child trying to be more independent, usually it's the younger child that is more dependent on their parents. But not you," he frowned, "Why did she accuse you of always lying?"

"Because that's what I did," I answered him honestly, "Secondary school, I just didn't learn, the teachers weren't the best and I was just bored all the time. Used to get into trouble quite a bit to liven up my day, and every time I was called up to answer why, I'd lie and say something completely different," I smiled tightly, "Eventually they just gave up and expelled me, but Mum has never quite believed what comes out of my mouth. I don't blame her, I'm not...I mean," I wasn't explaining myself very clearly, "I'm trying,"

"Mary-Anne," he grinned slightly, "You really got yourself caught down the rabbit hole, didn't you?" I sighed, before nodding, "Do you want to get out of here, I know that Rose is still with your...Mum downstairs," I nodded, "Anywhere you know?"

"There's the roof," I told him, placing in my laptop into the bag; "I guess it's better if we don't walk a long way away from here. I don't think Mum would forgive me at all if I disappeared twice," he nodded, and we made our way up to the roof with the Powell Estate down below, "Always used to come up here and think. Only Rose and I ever bothered," I dug out my phone, "No signal to tell her where we are though,"

"Give it here," he took the phone, and started poking around with it, "It's a nice spot, I can see why you come up here," he turned back to me, "I apologise about getting the year wrong, although in my defence..." he leaned against the brickwork, "I thought I had correctly pinned down the right year," he chucked my phone back to me, "Free of charge,"

"Thank you," I answered, quickly texting Rose where we were, before looking out at the clear view, "It's all so normal," I admitted honestly, "It's incredibly normal. I expected it to change at least a little bit, even if it's just in the weather. But no...same old London," the roof door banged open and Rose climbed out, "Managed to escape?"

She shot me a half hearted glare, "She's really torn up," she said and I nodded curtly, "You know she doesn't mean what she says," again I nodded, and she hopped up to sit next to me, "We can't tell her, can't even begin to tell her," all three of us were silent, "Was it a good year?"

"Middling," the Doctor said and I sighed. I suppose that wasn't too bad, nothing major happening, "If it's this much trouble, are you going to stay here now? I know Mary-Anne wants to continue travelling with me, but what about you?"

"I don't know," Rose sounded so lost in that moment, and she let out a great sigh, "I can't do that again to her though. Neither of us can do that to her," I ignored her pointed look, "You know that if we did this again then she would break into a thousand pieces,"

"Well she's not coming with us," the Doctor said brusquely and we both laughed at that. I could imagine Mum in the TARDIS, talking a mile a minute, and holding a cup of tea. Or she would be completely petrified about the whole existence of the TARDIS and never step foot in it, "I don't do families,"

"She slapped you!" Rose practically crowed.

"It hurt!" he answered, "Nine hundred years of time and space travel, and I have never been slapped by someone's mother," I froze slightly at that. Nine hundred years of time travel. That meant that he was over nine hundred years old. Just another concept to try and fit my head around. Anymore and I really wouldn't be surprised if my head exploded with the sheer pressure of it all.

"When you say nine hundred years," I started and he looked at me, blankly, "So you do mean nine hundred actual years," I let out a long sigh, "Wow...Mum was right," Rose looked surprised, "That is one hell of an age gap," they both laughed slightly, "I swear every conversation we have goes completely insane," I hopped off the brickwork, "And I guess that's...all right," I turned back, "We've seen this planet explode, and monsters living under the city and there's no one else to talk to. Not that I don't mind, but the size of it," I folded my arms, "And we can't say a word. Aliens and monster and demons, Doctor," I shrugged, looking out at the city once again, "And we're the only ones on Planet Earth who knows it exists,"

There was a loud foghorn noise behind us and we all turned to see a spaceship careen straight towards us. We all ducked and watched transfixed as the massive spaceship hurtled towards the centre of London and we watched as it soared over the river and loop around St Paul's Cathedral. It was an actual spaceship and right in the centre of the London. Of all the places that it could have landed, and we watched silently as the spaceship turned again, a wing slicing through Big Ben before landing into the river. Smoke was billowing out of it, black and thick and I could only assume that it must have crashed.

"Oh," I looked at Rose, "That's just not fair,"

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**Longer than my usual first episode chapters but I don't mind. Tell me what you think!**


	17. Aliens of London: Part 2

**Here I am, and on a Thursday as well. Look at that. I have to say, that this isn't a favourite chapter of mine, but that's probably because I'm writing on a really warm day. But oh well, onwards.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Aliens of London: Part 1

The City of London was in pandemonium, and it didn't appear to be settling down any time soon. And we were right in the middle of it. It was amazing the way people reacted to it. The crash had only happened twenty minutes ago and the whole city was now in complete gridlock, with cars beeping at each other furiously. Spectators were hanging over the edges of the river, staring at the large wreckage that had decided to deposit itself into the middle of the Thames. The army hadn't been slow about arriving either. Massive jeeps were stationed everywhere and men with guns walking around.

From what I could see the spaceship looked to be a green colour, like an olive, but rusted. An olive rusted spaceship. And it had been big. Not anywhere near as the Doctor's TARDIS but still very impressive. It was the classic example of what a spaceship should be. What a spaceship was like in the films at least. And we were about two miles from it.

"It's blocked off," the Doctor informed us as we finally stopped, and I looked around, trying to see any way of getting closer to the river and to the ship. No such luck, the men in the jeeps seemed to be very keen on people not getting anywhere near that wreckage. Unfortunately for all three of us.

"We're about a mile, maybe two from the centre of London," Rose said, as we stood in the middle of the road, watching the street in front of us. We didn't move, and neither were the cars, "The whole city must be gridlocked. The whole of London must be closing down," she turned to me, "Don't suppose you know anywhere of getting close?" I shook my head and she sighed, "No such luck then. They're hardly going to let us just walk past,"

The Doctor, typically, wasn't listening to her, "I can't believe I'm here to see this!" he grinned, turning around in a circle, "This is absolutely fantastic!" he laughed gleefully, and I smiled, biting my bottom lip. He looked like a small child that had opened his favourite present on Christmas Day.

"Did you know that this was going to happen?" I asked; breaking my eyes from the jeeps, "Doctor?" he swung around to look at me, "Did you know that this ship was going to crash, or even how the ship crashed? Do you recognise what species it came from?"

The grin was still plastered all over his face, "No, no, and no," he answered me, bouncing on the balls of his feet, craning to try and see a mile away, "You see, you two? This is what I travel through time and space for. To see history happening in front us! To see events that changes the course of millions of lives,"

"We're so glad we've got you," Rose said sarcastically, "Never mind the traffic or the jeeps, we've got the TARDIS. All we have to do is move just a couple of miles towards the centre of London, you flash the psychic paper and we're inside, seeing the spaceship up close and for real,"

The Doctor didn't look so convinced at her argument, "Umm, better not," he replied, looking slightly uneasy, "They've already got one spaceship in the middle of London, it's best not to have another one shoved right on top,"

I frowned, looking up at him, "But doesn't yours just look like a big blue wooden box?" I inquired slowly, not getting what he was talking about, "Nobody is going to notice a wooden box parked on a street corner. You said that nobody notices things like that. It's not like it's spaceship shaped. It doesn't even look like the thing that's in the Thames," I shrugged, "I wouldn't notice it,"

"You would notice it," he contradicted me immediately, "Nevertheless; it's not going to be moved. You'd be surprised at how many people would notice it. This is a national emergency, and there will be all sorts of people watching carefully in this. Trust me; the TARDIS is better off staying where she is,"

"So history is happening right here, right now," I said slowly, "And we're stuck here, miles from anywhere remotely exciting,"

"Yes, we are," the Doctor looked satisfied with that answer.

There was a long pause of silence, "Well," Rose piped up, "We could do what everyone else does in this kind of emergency," the Doctor and I both looked at her, "We could go and watch it on television," the Doctor nodded at that so we started to walk back to the Powell Estate, "Mum's probably got about fifty people over in her flat, probably because she wants to make sure that everyone knows that we're alive, and because this has just happened. Is your television working?" she looked at me.

"How should I know?" I shrugged, "We've been gone for a year, and I doubt that the police paid my TV licence. Mum has the only available television we can use, so we're going to have to go there," I caught her look, "Don't look at me, I don't want to go and see her anymore than you do. At least she wouldn't cry over me," I ignored both Rose and the Doctor's looks, "Do you really think that this is the first contact that humans had with other worlds, Doctor?" I asked him, changing the subject, "Because there's a thousand years of human history, and today happens to be the day that they decide to visit. It's a bit of a coincidence,"

"Oh there have been aliens that have visited Earth before," he assured me, "It's just that humans don't look properly. You make excuses to why they are there. Aliens feature in fairytales, myths and legends. The human race is amazing for the capacity for sheer denial. You don't even notice a police box on a corner. This spaceship is different," he grinned, "You can't shut your eyes to it now, everyone can see it, and so you advance and evolve into something amazing," he stopped at the sight of the TARDIS. It had been spray painted with the large words: BAD WOLF, "What have you done to my ship?"

"Doctor," Rose elbowed him gently, "You can paint that over after we've seen the news,"

"Someone's sprayed graffiti all over my TARDIS!" he walked up to it, rubbing at it, "That's going to take ages to come off. Humans, have to put vandalised everything that's available," Rose and I moved towards the flat and the Doctor followed still complaining about the state of the TARDIS, "When I find the person that did it..."

"You'll get them to wash it off and send them on their way," I answered, pushing open the door, and walking inside, "Mum; we're just going to use the television!" I called at Mum who was busy talking on the phone. She merely tossed her head at me, and I picked up the remote, switching it to BBC One and sitting down on the sofa, "Here we are then, what's everyone saying?"

"_Big Ben has been destroyed as a UFO crash-lands in Central London," _the reporter said, showing pictures of streets that were now filled with people, and police that were all pushing back the swell of the crowds. It looked something like out of the eighties when there were all those riots, _"Police reinforcements have been drafted in from across London to control widespread panic, looting and civil disturbance. A state of national emergency has been declared. Tom Hutchinson is at the scene,"_

The screen changed to a live camera and I found myself leaning forward, seeing the wreckage on screen. It had properly crashed just in front of the London Aquarium, _"The police are urging people not to panic,"_ the man said, _"There's a helpline number at the bottom of the screen if you're worried about friends or family,"_ the camera panned around and zoomed in on the crash, it didn't look like there were any people going near to it. The smoke was still pouring out however.

"Pass the remote," I tossed it over to the Doctor, watching him carefully as he flicked the channel over to an American channel, "I want to see how far this has gone," he explained, "The spaceship clearly crash-landed in London, but it looks like America is getting involved as well,"

"_The military are on the lookout for more spaceships,"_ the woman said, and I sighed, rubbing my eyes. For a day, which had already disorientated me about the year, it was going right down the plughole now, _"Until then, all flights in North America have been grounded. The president will address the nation live from the White House, but the Secretary General has asked that people watch the skies,"_

"What's that going to achieve?" I sat back, waving a hand at the television, "Isn't it just going to cause complete chaos and confusion. I bet there are a thousand conspiracy theorists that are dialling that number at this second. Do you think that there is anything else that will come crashing to Earth?"

"I don't know," the Doctor replied, "It might have just been a fluke, the spaceship definitely did crash, but I don't know whether it was part of a number of spaceships or just on its lonesome," he grinned at me, "Better that way. Makes it more fun,"

"_The army is sending divers into the wreck of the spaceship,"_ Tom Hutchinson was back on the television again, the channel switching over again, _"No one knows what they are going to find there,"_

I heard the front door slam, and I turned around to see our neighbours walking into the flat. I got up, leaning against the doorframe to look at Mum who was busy filling the kettle up, "Having a party?" I inquired, and she turned around, turning it on, "You think it's the right time to have a party? Here, now? When all this is happening on the news?"

"Yes," she replied shortly, drawing out mugs from the cupboard, "Martians have landed, you and Rose have finally come back, even though you still use that ridiculous excuse about travelling," she folded her arms looking at me carefully, "Are you still sticking to travelling?"

"I find it ironic that ever lie I told you, you believed me, but when I tell you the truth, you think it's a lie," I informed her pleasantly, "Because I am telling you the truth, I swear," she didn't look convinced, as she poured boiling water, "Just don't blame the Doctor, please, it's really not his fault,"

"Well I've got no choice, have I?" she moved past me, "Either I make him welcome, or I run the risk of never seeing Rose or you ever again," I rolled my eyes, "Don't look like that at me, please, I don't want you to disappear, either of you," she passed around the mugs of tea, "Although I've lost weight since you two have disappeared,"

I shook my head in exasperation, going to sit on the floor, next to the Doctor's chair, my original seat having being taken up by someone else, "They've just found a body," the Doctor nodded at the screen, "A body in the spaceship which is from another planet. Unconfirmed but it's likely to be something alien," I looked up at him, "This is the day where everything changes, Mary-Anne, and your mother is telling her friends about dating someone. Humans," he turned up the volume, "Shh,"

"_An extraordinary event unfolding here in Central London, but we still don't know whether the body is alive or dead,"_ Tom Hutchinson said, _"Whitehall is denying everything, but the body has been brought here,"_ the camera shot changed to a hospital, _"Albion Hospital, with the roads closed off, it's the closest to the river,"_

"Interesting," the Doctor smiled slightly, "Albion Hospital, I wonder what they'll find," he was passed a toddler, "Why have I ended up with the baby?"

"You've got a trustworthy face," I answered blandly, and the channel switched over to Blue Peter, "Never mind that, let me change the channel," I took the remote off him, and changing the channel back again. The Doctor pointed the toddler off towards his mother, and I shook my head, it was getting rather loud in here.

"_I'm being told that General Asquith is now entering the hospital," _the TV showed a rather large man walking into the hospital. He looked rather grumpy, like the only thing he wanted to do was get rid of every reporter that had decided to camp outside the hospital, _"The building's been evacuated, the patients have been moved out onto the streets, and the police still aren't confirming the presence of an alien body, contained inside those walls,"_

"Typical humans," the Doctor said, "Something upsets your little world and you immediately call the army in," I continued watching the screen, ignoring the deafening noise behind us, "Your mother loves a party, I see,"

"Yeah..." I murmured distantly, "A party," I turned the volume up louder, and I looked at the scrolling red banner at the bottom, "The Prime Minister's disappeared? That's odd," the Doctor leaned closer, "What do you think it all means?"

"Don't know," he shrugged, "Could mean anything in this world. Or out of it," we paid close attention to the news.

"_Mystery surrounds the whereabouts of the Prime Minister, he's not been seen since the emergency began, and the Opposition is criticising his lack of leadership. Oh, hold on," _a car rolled up and another portly man got out looking rather scared at the whole confusion that must have sprung up around Downing Street, _"No, sorry, that's Joseph Green, the M.P. for Hartley Dale, Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission for Monitoring of Sugar Levels in Exported Confectionary,"_ that couldn't be a real job, _"With respect, hardly the most important man right now,"_

"The Cabinet must be locked out of the City," I said, standing up and passing the Doctor the remote, "Trains are probably cut off as well, and buses. The whole of London has to be on lock down, nothing gets in or out until they work out what to do with the spaceship," the Doctor just nodded, "I'm going to go get some air,"

I walked outside, feeling the cold breeze on my face. A completely new world and it looked exactly the same. Technically, it was a whole new year as well. 2006. Did that mean I was nineteen? Or did I remain eighteen? I had been gone for two days, it wasn't like I had lived another year. I had only just turned eighteen as well. It would be a shame to miss my whole eighteenth year. And seeing from the balcony of the flat, it looked like everything hadn't changed. There weren't any flying cars or robots for example. Not that I could see anyway.

"You're thinking," I turned quickly around to see the Doctor, "You're in the near future but it's still present day," he leant on the balcony next to me, "Wondering, what has changed or what's new," I nodded, "Well, the spaceship would be the first thing," I laughed at that, "And the graffiti on my TARDIS,"

"The spaceship is definitely new," I agreed, before letting everything out, "It's everything that is different," I folded my arms around me, "It's not the way it looks, that's the same. It's the way everyone in there is looking at me, like I've come back from the dead. I know that in their eyes I have, but to me it still feels like two days, I was sitting around, doing nothing with my life, and now their whole attitude has changed. It's bizarre and frankly a little scary. Oh I don't know," I placed my head in my hands, "I thought I had everything figured out, and then a blue box arrived on my doorstep, and everything changed. You changed my life, and I haven't even thanked you,"

"I don't need to be thanked," he informed me, "I do my bit and then leave,"

"Well, I'm thanking you," I said, and he smiled, "I never knew such a world could exist, and now that I have seen part of it, it's made everything seem to shine," I grinned, "Until we start running, there is a lot of running with you," I looked back into the flat, "So what made you come out here then? Are you going somewhere?"

He looked a little guilty, "I'm going nowhere, it's just a bit human in there," he laughed, "History's just happened and they're talking about buying dodgy top-up cards for half price. Just off for a wander," I raised my eyebrow, "I'm just wandering, don't worry,"

Rose stepped out of the doorway, "I heard that," she told him, "There's a spaceship that's crashed into the middle of the Thames and you're off for a quick wander?"

"Nothing to do with me," he protested, "It's not an invasion, that was a genuine crash-landing," he waved his hands around manically, "Angle of descent, colour of the smoke, everything," he grinned happily, "It was perfect," we both shrugged, "So maybe this is it? First contact. The day mankind officially comes into contact with an alien race. I'm not interfering, because you've got to handle this on your own. This is when the Human Race grows up. Just this morning, you were all tiny and small and made out of clay. And now you can expand!" he smiled, "You don't need me. Go and celebrate history,"

"Promise, you won't disappear," I asked him, and he sighed, digging through his pockets, "Doctor?"

"Tell you what," he handed me something, and then Rose. I looked at what he had given me, it was a key on a chain, "TARDIS key, it's about time you both had one," I looked at it carefully, watching it twirl on the silver chain, "See you later," and with that he wandered off.

"I'm going upstairs," I told Rose, "Call me if you need me. I can't stand it in there," she merely nodded, turning to go back into the flat, "Hey," she looked back, "Don't worry about the Doctor, he wouldn't just dump us in the middle of London," I walked up the stairs to my flat, but just before I turned the key in the door, I heard the familiar whooshing noise of the TARDIS, and I looked over the balcony, I saw it disappear, "Rule One," I murmured to myself, "The Doctor lies,"

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**Trying to make this story move a little faster so the next chapter might be up sooner than next week.**


	18. Aliens of London: Part 3

**A-Levels finally finished, so now I have three months absolutely free so everything's good. Yay! So that's an apology for disappearing for a couple of weeks. Here's the next chapter. Thank you everyone reviewed and/or alerted this story.**

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Aliens of London: Part 3

I was busy stuffing things in my bag when I heard the knock on the bedroom door, "Yes?" I looked up as saw Rose standing in my doorway, "Rose, you finally got bored of the conversation down there," I picked up a couple of my books, "Thought you would last a little longer than that," I threw them into the bag, not bothering to see where they landed, "You think that the TARDIS will have any plugs or should I bring my hairdryer? I can only fit so much stuff in here,"

"You're going to leave," she said, and I ignored her to fit in another book in, "You're not going to discuss this with Mum or me. You're just going to fly away in the TARDIS and not have a second thought about leaving this place,"

"Rose," I answered patiently, straightening up, "We live in a council estate, we don't have a job, and you're still living with our mother who thought we were dead not twenty four hours ago. What is the dilemma?" she folded her arms, "We've been to the year five billion, we've met Charles bloody Dickens! You're not serious about giving that all up for a dead end job in some store?" I scanned her face, "Or you are? Then that's your problem not mine. I don't have to stay here. I'm not going to stay here if I don't want to. There's a better life out there and I'll be damned if I let that pass me by,"

She nodded, "I know," I rolled my eyes at her words; "You think that I won't be coming with you? Of course I'll be coming with you, there's not a chance that I'll miss this. I'm just worried that you're not going to say goodbye when we leave. We ought to say goodbye to Mum. We can't leave her for a year again without her knowing where we are,"

"Because she'll believe us when we're going to the Pyramids of San Kaloon or one of the moons of Jupiter in the Year Thirty Thousand," I added dryly, folding a jacket up. I caught her look, "I heard the Doctor talking about it," I pointed a finger at it, "That doesn't detract from my argument. Mum won't be able to understand the concept around the whole idea of what the TARDIS truly is. This is the idea of the whole of Time and Space to see and explore for as long as we can. Try and explain that concept to someone who doesn't know how to record on a video player. I can't do that,"

"You can really just waltz on out of here without so much as a backward glance?" she asked and I nodded, "Without a word to Mum or Shareen or Mickey?" I inclined my head, "That's cold, Alice. I know that you and Mum don't like each other most of the time..."

"Like? Liking her has nothing to do with it, Rose," I dismissed, finally closing the suitcase, "The fact is that they are your friends not mine. So no, I don't give a damn whether I say goodbye or not. Obviously I'd miss them to a degree but it's not the same. I'm your little sister, Rose. Rickey isn't my friend; we can hardly get on with each other. Shareen is a decent person but I can't see her being too cut up about me leaving. And you know that Mum wouldn't weep buckets like she would when you leave her. So it's really a choice between staying still and moving forward. I take that option,"

"She's our mother," she reminded me, "And you care for her,"

I straightened, "Yes," I shrugged, "I don't conceal that I do care for her. But she's not going to keep me from leaving here. She can't plead or cry or beg to me. She won't do that to me, and you know that she won't do it to me," I ruffled my hair, "I want something better than this, Rose. I don't want to stay in a place where life just plods along. I want to run, and don't you dare lie to me when you say that isn't what you want as well. It's a better way to live. Even without all the aliens and the death and the absolute horror of it all. It's a better life,"

"Yeah," she nodded, and I zipped up my bag, "Suppose this is it then. No more London, no more twentieth century and no more dead end job," I grinned at her, lifting the case and resting it against the doorframe, "I suppose it's not a bad life,"

"Better with you," I admitted and she smiled widely, "I wouldn't go anywhere without you, you know? Oh, I'd think about it, and possibly go for a month or two. But then I'd miss you and then come back to drag you with me," I let out a long side, "You and me, Rose. They're not going to split us for as long as I have a word to say," She looped her hand around mine and pulled me out of the flat, "Would you really not come with me?"

She laughed, "Don't be ridiculous," she looked at me sideways, "Of course I'd come with you. Wouldn't miss for all the time in the world," we entered Mum's flat and I found that there were even more people than there had been before, "They'll all be leaving in a minute...probably,"

"Yeah," I sighed, finally finding a seat in which to sit, "That's what you said last time, last year if I recall correctly," I looked towards the television, "I suppose there isn't anything on that could possibly drown out the noise from this lot?"

"Good luck with that," she laughed, and I picked up the remote, flicking through the channels rapidly, hoping for something on to tell me exactly where the Doctor would have likely gone. Probably the hospital where the alien that had been found in the ship had been taken, but it seemed to quiet. Wherever the Doctor was, there always seemed to be a loud situation right in front or right behind him. But apparently all was well, apart from the spaceship, in London.

Mum entered the living room holding a cardboard cup aloft filled with what I presumed to be some fizzy drink or other, "Here we are then!" she called, "Here's to the Martians," everyone else that she had invited, nearly the whole neighbourhood, cheered back.

"We don't even know that they're Martians," I muttered through my fingertips, before throwing a glance over to Rose who was looking rather despondently at the screen. She didn't look like she was enjoying the crowd that had gathered either. I suddenly caught a glimpse of someone standing in the doorway and mentally groaned, "Rose, it's your boyfriend, you better go and solve the problem before it turns into a real fighting match," she frowned at me and I nodded at Mickey, "How are you doing, Rickey?"

He was just staring at Rose, and I did start to feel a little tiny bit of envy for her. First Mum and now Mickey, they couldn't help but stare at her. Never mind, I was one hundred percent positive that Mickey Smith staring at me would be a very strong indicator to run in the opposite direction. And as fast as I possibly could, "I was gonna come and see you," Rose told him in the smallest voice that I had ever heard her use, "Really, I was,"

A woman coughed violently, "Somebody owes Mickey an apology," she said loudly to the shocked silence that had sudden engulfed the entire flat. I couldn't help but feel slightly on edge. It couldn't have been that quiet just because we had been away for that long, could it? Rose had started to open her mouth but the same woman promptly shot her down, "Not you,"

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Mum and I shared a confused look with Rose. Why on Earth were they looking at Mum? And for that matter why was Mum looking so shamefaced at everyone turning to look at her, "Well it's not my fault," she defended herself, "Be fair, what was I suppose to think?" I was still confused, "Alice, Rose, come into the kitchen. I'll explain everything,"

"I wish you would," I quipped sarcastically to her as I passed her into the kitchen, sitting on the side of the draining board, "So," I looked at the assembled people, consisting of Rose, Mickey, Mum and me, "What's going on that you haven't told us? I suppose it would be fair enough if you didn't tell us but I suppose it would help in explaining why Rickey seems to attract an awful lot of silence at the moment," Mickey glared at me, "Hello,"

"I knew this would happen," he said, "You've both been gone a year and when you come back, it'll all be charm and smiles from her like she hasn't missed a whole year. Like my life hasn't gone down the drain," I raised an eyebrow, "You both disappear, so who do they turn to? Your sister's boyfriend. Five time, I was taken in for questioning, five times, because everyone knew that Alice and I didn't get along," he waved his hand in my face, holding up all five fingers, "No evidence, of course there couldn't be, could there?" she pointed at Mum, "And then I get her. Your mother whispering all around the estate, pointing the finger. Stuff through my letterbox, all because of you two!"

Rose looked practically sick to her heart, "We didn't think that we'd be gone so long," she told him, "Really, it wasn't as long..." she wasn't doing too well, digging herself into a pit of trouble and both of us knew it, "I'm really, really sorry, Mickey,"

"And I waited for you!" Mickey seemed even more upset, "Twelve months!" Rose was practically crying at this point and I felt annoyed with Mickey for doing so. You know, it really wasn't our fault that we arrived so late, "All the time, waiting for you, Mary-Anne and the Doctor!"

Mum's head snapped up, "Hold on!" she demanded, "You knew about the Doctor?" Uh-oh, Rose and I both knew that this conversation wasn't going to go too well into the realms of the return of pleasant conversation. It was just going to get worse, especially if Mum did actually find out where exactly we had gone to, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well," I inputted, rocking back and forth on the edge of the sink, "That's not exactly hard to understand, is it?" they all turned to look at me, "Rickey's just said that you haven't exactly been the most loving neighbour to him for the past twelve months, have you?" she glared at me, "In fact, I would go as far as to say that the feeling is rather mutual between you. It's no wonder that he didn't tell you anything. You probably wouldn't have given him a chance to tell you anything,"

"That doesn't matter, and you're a right one to talk about the truth," she snapped at me, and I raised my hands in surrender, "The fact is that all three of you haven't said a thing about this Doctor, before or after you left. And I want to know why!"

"Yeah, Alice," Mickey started to shut the windows and curtains behind me, "Why not?" he closed the door, pretending to act all secretively, "How could I tell her where you two you went?"

I shifted uneasily, really not wanting to get in this conversation, especially with the both of them. We would only be judged, despite the fact that it really wasn't our fault that we were twelve months off our rightful date. However I could see that Mum wasn't going to accept that idea when she said, "Tell me now!"

Mickey laughed and I clutched the TARDIS key between my hands, "Might as well, because you're both stuck with us now," he seemed almost triumphant with that fact, "The Doctor's gone. I saw him, just now, that box just faded away,"

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, turning to me, "He's gone?"

I shifted slightly, "Not for long, he only wanted to..." she ran off towards where I knew the TARDIS had been parked, "Look around," I said to the thin air, before trudging out after her, "Rose, it's not like he's left forever," she glared at me, "Seriously, you really thought that he wouldn't go and try to find out about everything," I saw Mickey and Mum walk towards us, "Oh go away, both of you," I said to them, "This is none of your business,"

"It's my business when you don't tell me what the hell is going on," Mum told me, and I sighed, waving an annoyed hand at her, "Why can't you just tell me the truth, sometimes, Alice, because it's driving me up the blooming wall!"

I walked up to her, suppressing the urge to wave my hands around, "Mum," I answered calmly, "Why don't you go upstairs, go back to your flat, and put the kettle on. Make yourself a nice cup of tea, because there is no way in heaven and earth you are going to let us talk to you about this in a rational manner," I turned back to Rose, "He wouldn't just go, he promised me that he wouldn't just leave, so he's probably having a nice time breaking into a place which isn't meant to be broken into,"

"He dumped you, Alice," I shot a very nasty glare at Mickey, "Your boyfriend sailed off into space, how does it feel?" I closed my eyes; trying to get a hold of my anger before I really did something bad like punched Mickey in the face. Don't get me wrong, I don't like punching anyone, but at the moment if I had to punch someone then it would be Mickey Smith, "You're both left behind with the rest of us earthlings," he sounded too happy by half, "Get used to it,"

"You three," Mum looked at us all, and I suppose we did look rather odd, we were all standing in the middle of the estate with nothing and no one near us, "I don't know what you're going on about. What's going on? What's this Doctor done now?"

"He's vamoosed!" Mickey crowed.

That was it, "He has not!" I retorted at him, "Because he would have told me that he was leaving. And all he said was that he was going for a wander and I believe him," I took my TARDIS key from around my neck, holding it up, "Because he gave me this," he looked sceptical, "He's not my boyfriend, you idiot, I haven't even known him for that long. But he is so much more important than you think, Rickey. So he would never, ever..." I looked down when I felt the key warm up, and saw that it was glowing with a golden light, pulsing like the top of the TARDIS as it dematerialised. I showed it to Mickey, "See, I told you!"

I could hear the sound of the TARDIS coming through and I looked at Rose as we noticed the same thing at the same time, "Mum!" Rose moved quickly towards her, "Go inside now!" I could see the TARDIS starting to appear "Don't just stand there! Just go inside," she was trying to push her towards the entrance of the estate, but Mum seemed to be fixated by the appearance of the TARDIS, "Right now off you go! Go, Mum! Just..!"

The TARDIS materialised fully, with a low creak of noise echoing as it landed, "Damn," I intoned as Mum stared at the blue box that had suddenly made itself visible in the little square. Of all the time to come and return. It was going to be hell trying to explain this all to Mum.

"How did you do that then?" Mum asked, clearly puzzled.

Yes, it was going to be very difficult to explain everything to her.

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**So this is shorter than the previous two chapters. next one should be longer.**

**Enjoy**


	19. Aliens of London: Part 4

**So here's the next chapter. Planning to get the next chapter out by Wednesday, but we'll see. I have to throw a huge thank you to grapejuice101 who has reviewed every chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Aliens of London: Part 4

The Doctor was in mid flow as we entered into the TARDIS, all of us, including Mum, "All right," he said, and I took my coat off, slinging it over one of the supports, "So I lied, I went and had a look," I moved to see what he was looking at on the screen, shifting awkwardly as I was conscious of Mum's shocked face, and Mickey's furious one. "But the whole thing was just too perfect," he rolled his eyes, "I mean hitting Big Ben, come on," he looked down at me, "So I though, let's go and have a look at the pilot-"

"My mother's here," I interrupted him, and he whirled around to look at Mickey and Mum. He glared at me and I raised my hands in surrender, "And they saw you...appearing," I finished, folding my arms, and shrugging apologetically, "Sorry,"

He made a noise of discontentment, "Oh, just what I need," he sighed, before pointing at me, "Don't you dare make this place domestic," I nodded, turning back to the screen, and ignoring the glare that I could practically feel on the back of my neck from Mickey. I doubted that he was pleased to see the Doctor, and apparently unrepentant of missing the year.

"You ruined my life, Doctor," I saw the Doctor close his eyes in irritation before turning around and leaning on the TARDIS console, his arms folded as he waited for the accusations to come from Mickey, "They thought that Rose and Alice were dead. I was a murder suspect all because of you!" Mickey's voice was rising with every sentence that he spoke, "I bet you don't even remember my name!"

"Rickey," the Doctor answered him without hesitation and I stifled my laugh behind my hand, concealing it as a cough when Rose elbowed me sharply in the stomach to keep me quiet.

"It's Mickey," Mickey snapped, now doubly as angry with the Doctor. I suppose that deliberate poke to rile him served to make him even angrier than he already was at this point. On my part, I decided to keep out of it considering my own inclination for calling Mickey: Rickey. I didn't think that I would be of any help to rectify the argument, "I think that I would remember my own name,"

The Doctor laughed sarcastically, "You think you know your own name," he retorted, stepping up to Mickey, "How stupid are you?" Luckily at that point, Mum decided to run out of the TARDIS with a faint cry. She was probably in shock, but at least it served to relieve the tension that had been building for the past couple of minutes.

Rose turned to look at me, widened her eyes in a silent message. I shook my head slightly, I knew that she wanted me to go after Mum, but I really doubted that I was the right person to talk to Mum about this. She pursed her lips, annoyed. She didn't want to leave to go after her either, "Fine," she muttered, "Don't go away," she ordered the Doctor, before moving to Mickey, "Don't start a fight," she waved a hand at me, "And don't let them get into an argument," and on that final note, she ran out of the TARDIS.

I looked back at the screen, "So what did you get up to then?" I asked the Doctor, who blinked innocently at me, "Oh, come on, you went to go and have a look, didn't you? At the alien that they brought in from the wreckage," I pressed a little further, "The one that they said was in Albion Hospital? What did you find there?" he grinned, not answering me, and moving back to the screen. I rolled my eyes in amusement, "Doctor, what did you find?"

He turned his head to look at me, "It was a pig," he answered, and I frowned, not understanding what he was talking about, "Well, when I say that it was a pig, I mean it was a pig but it was an alien pig," he sighed, "Someone had taken a human pig and rewired its brain using alien technology. The technology that was used, well, no human could possibly have that type of technology. Yet it was a human pig, so they must have been here already before...the spaceship 'crashed' and even that's not right,"

I cleared my throat, "Someone took a pig, and rewired its brain?" I repeated slowly, and he nodded, "Odd," the door of the TARDIS opened again, and Rose ran back inside, "Is she going to be all right?" I inquired of her, and she nodded. I moved back to the Doctor's side, "So was it even a real spaceship?"

He nodded, "So what it's all a pack of lies?" said Rose, "What are they doing then? Invading?"

Mickey laughed, craning to look over our heads at the screen which showed the broken Big Ben and the alien wreckage, the smoke still pouring out of it, "Funny way to invade, putting the world on red alert," he remarked and Rose, the Doctor and I all turned to look at him, "Just saying,"

"Good point," the Doctor admitted grudgingly, "Actually that is a good point," we all turned back to the screen, "So what are they up to?" he hit the screen, "I need to find a way to find out where that ship has been. Maybe we'll find out where the aliens are from and who they are,"

"How do we do that then?" Rose asked, "Do we hack into their computers or what?"

The Doctor looked at her appraisingly, "Exactly," he agreed, before looking around the console, "Which means..." he bent down to slide the grill that we were standing on, "Time to do some rewiring," he handed me the grill, pulling out the sonic screwdriver, and lying down in the hole in the floor, "Come and help then," I quickly rested the grill against one of the pillars, before kneeling down. The Doctor passed me a wire, "Don't let go of this, otherwise this could get a bit tricky,"

"No problems then," I replied, watching him buzz the different components of the TARDIS, "So this space pig," I said and he nodded distracted, "What's going to happen to it? I mean..." I mused, biting my bottom lip, "You can't let human doctor's perform an examination on it, or would it be a vet?" I shook my head, not allowing myself to get distracted, "And I suppose you can't let them keep it locked up, even if it is a pig," he stopped buzzing, "What will happen to it?"

"I don't know," he answered tightly, before lowering the sonic screwdriver, and looked at me, "It was shot," I almost dropped the wire by accident, "They thought it was dead, and it wasn't. It woke up and ran because it was frightened. A soldier panicked," he went back to the wires, "I don't think it felt much pain,"

"Well it wasn't your fault," I told him, and he furrowed his brow, "You didn't know what was going to happen or that the solider would shoot it, did you? I suppose..." I trailed off, thinking about it. Was it better for the pig to be dead? It wouldn't have to suffer through countless examinations by medical people, but on the other hand, it wasn't fair that it was dead. I broke out of my thoughts to look up at Mickey, "Rickey, what are you doing?" I inquired lightly.

He glared down at me, "It's Mickey," he stated bluntly, and I yawned pointedly, "And I was going to ask what he..." he looked down at the Doctor, "Was doing,"

"Rickey," the Doctor said, and Mickey opened his mouth to protest, but he carried on talking to save himself the trouble of having the now very familiar argument over Mickey's name, "If I told you what I was doing to the controls of my frankly magnificent time ship, would you even begin to understand?"

Mickey sniffed, "I suppose not," he answered.

"Well shut up then," the Doctor smiled widely and Mickey scowled before disappearing off to where Rose was standing next to the console fiddling with a switch, "How did you put up with him before you met me?" he asked, and I sent him a pointed look, "Nice friend,"

"He's not my friend," I said, "He's just...Rose's boyfriend, if they're even still together. A year is a long time and I don't know, he might have found someone else," I chuckled a little, "Someone who didn't think he was a murder suspect," I bit my lip, "Sorry, I shouldn't laugh, it's not that funny," I looked over to where Rose and Mickey were talking lowly, "I've known him my whole life, but we've never really been friends. Don't have much in the way of friends,"

"Why not?" I looked down at the Doctor, puzzled, "Everyone makes friends during their life. You made friends with me rather quickly, and you have Rose. She appears to be more your friend than your sister," I smiled at that, "Isn't there anyone else?"

"For me?" I asked, "No, not really," I sighed, crossing my legs as I continued to hold the wire for him, "I suppose I've never quite fit in with the rest of the world, that's one reason. Another is that I never really tried to make friends, I don't..." I hesitated, "There's always a risk that they will hurt you. I don't want to get hurt, so I suppose I distanced myself from everyone. Acquaintances but never friends," I smiled wryly, "I'm not lonely, I don't get lonely, but..." I looked at him, "I'm learning, and I can learn," I chuckled humourlessly, "And I broke into the TARDIS,"

"My TARDIS doesn't get broken into," he dismissed, and I laughed properly, "You were just lucky. And I am very lucky to have met you," I smiled at his words, "Don't forget that," he suddenly frowned at the wire he was holding, "You shouldn't be there," he shook his head slightly, before tilting his head a little at me, "What's Rickey blabbering on about now?"

I looked over to Rose and Mickey, "Oh," I frowned a little, "She's asking whether he's found anyone else in the twelve months that we've been done. He hasn't, because he was a murder suspect," he finally took the wire from me, "She's going to come with us," he didn't nod, "She said she would," I looked across to Mickey, "But I don't think that he's going to happy about it,"

He jumped out of the floor, "That's not my problem," he told me, before clapping his hands together, "Got it," Rose and Mickey suddenly broke apart, and we all moved over to the screen again, "Patched in the radar, looped it back twelve hours, so it's tracked the flight of that spaceship. Here we go," he hit a couple of buttons and shook the screen slightly, "Come on," It finally cleared and showed a circular orb. The Doctor pointed to a small dot, which looped its way around the screen, "That's the spaceship, on its way to Earth. Except...hold on," a few more buttons and the picture changed to show the white dot to leave Earth and then come back, "You see, the spaceship did a slingshot around the planet before landing,"

Rose shrugged, "What does that mean?" she asked.

"It means that it came from Earth in the first place," explained the Doctor, and I sighed, pressing a hand to my mouth. So someone...or something had crashed a spaceship that had gone from one side of the planet to the other. Where was the point in that? "See, it went up and came back down. Whoever those aliens are, they haven't just arrived; they've been here for a while. The question is..."

"What have they been doing in the mean time," I finished dully, my hands in my pockets, "So...no crash landing, no aliens on board, and absolutely no way of knowing what is really going on, other than what the BBC is reporting live," I turned around, resting on the console, "And we all know how reliable journalists can be," I tapped a couple of buttons, the screen changing to different news screens, "And by the looks of the entire world, everyone is panicking," I let out a long breath, "In the words of Rickey: why invade by putting us all on red alert? What could possibly be the point of it all?" I looked across to Rose, "Anything interesting?"

She shook her head and Mickey pushed his way between the both of us, frowning at the screen, "How many channels do you get on there?" he inquired of the Doctor, and I let out an irritated sigh. Possible alien threat in the middle of London, possibly threatening to wipe us all out and all Mickey can think about is...

"Yes, I get the football," the Doctor answered him, "All the basic packages," I looked up at the ceiling. Was this my life now? Running headlong into alien invasions without any clue whatsoever? I chewed my lip, thinking. Well, there was always worth ways to go. I was roused to when the Doctor suddenly said, "Hold on, I know that lot," I moved to see the news, which featured a lot of heavily armed men and women sporting red berets and army uniform, "UNIT, United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. They're good people,"

"How do you know them?" Rose inquired and I turned my head so I could see both the screen and the Doctor.

Except, of course Mickey had to be the one to interrupt the Doctor's imminent explanation, "Because he's worked for them," Ahh, the accusing tone of voice was back. Perhaps not all was reconciled between the two men, "Oh yeah, don't think I sat on my back for twelve months, Doctor. I've read up on you," now his voice sounded slightly gleeful, "You look deep enough on the Internet, or in the history books, and there's his name. Followed by a list of the dead,"

The Doctor once again adopted the tone of sarcasm, "That's nice," he informed the younger man, "Good boy Rickey," he was speaking to Mickey as if the latter was a mere poodle, and although extremely humorous, I was getting rather tired of both of them continually baiting with each other, even though I would never personally pass up witnessing Mickey getting deliberately riled up.

I decided to interrupt before Mickey could speak another word, "You know these people?" I questioned and the Doctor nodded, "Well, why don't we go over there? They talk to you, you talk to them, exchange theories, notes, etc, come to an understanding and plan of actions, before enacting it out. We three will sit by the side, be overly impressed, and alien invasion might be over by dinner time," I saw them all looking at me, "I thought it was a very good plan,"

The Doctor shook his head, "They wouldn't recognise me," he replied, and I folded my arms, he might be nine hundred years old, but he couldn't have changed that much over the years. Could he? "I've changed a bit since the old days," that didn't resolve my confusion, "Besides, the world's on a knife edge," he moved to start pulling levers, "There's aliens out there, and fake aliens," he pointed to himself, "I want to keep this alien out of the mix," that was rather reasonable, "I'm going undercover and..." he looked up at the central column of the TARDIS, "I better keep the TARDIS out of sight," he walked towards the doors, "Rickey, you've got a car, do some driving,"

Mickey threw his arms up, "Where to?" he demanded. I grabbed my coat off the supports, shrugging it on. It was getting very late at night, and already I was feeling the tired joints of sleep threaten to steal over me. I shoved it back, turning to the Doctor.

"The roads are clearing," he explained, "Let's go and hand a look at that spaceship,"

We all stepped outside and was immediately engulfed in bright white light. I winced, shielding my eyes from the glare, before squinting around, seeing army jeeps, police cars and helicopters seemingly appear out of nowhere. This wasn't part of the plan. To my left, I faintly saw Mickey dart out beside us, running for the estate and I repressed a glare towards him. I really wasn't surprised, he was the type of character that would always run from any army, "Not part of the plan then?" I inquired, turning to the Doctor, before seeing Mum being restrained by two soldiers. I didn't doubt that she had informed what seemed like the army, the police and the air force to where we were. How typical.

"No not exactly," the Doctor answered me before grinning outright. He loved this, how everything that he had planned out completely toppled over and he had to form a new plan in the rubble left behind. I wasn't sure whether he planned it all, or just made it up as he went along. I raised my hands along with him and Rose, "Take me to your leader," he informed the speaker.

I sighed, "I hate you," I said to him, just feeling amused when police encircled us.

"You don't," he retorted, shooting a grin at me, and of course he was right. I was enjoying this every second that he was as well. And I really couldn't bring myself to care either way. No matter where on Earth we were heading, whether it to some army barracks, or the police headquarters. I really couldn't find it in myself to protest or question what was happening to us. It would all probably be explained later no doubt. But for now...

I was enjoying this far too much.

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**So Aliens of London is nearly over, just one more chapter until World War Three, and then Dalek which I'm really looking forward to.**

**See you next time.**


	20. Aliens of London: Part 5

**Actually wrote this last night when I couldn't sleep, so insomnia can be useful sometimes. and so this is the last chapter for Aliens of London.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Aliens of London: Part Five

I was still smiling as I was escorted towards a car. For getting arrested at what seemed like the entire British military force, the car seemed deceptively simple. But the Doctor simply slid into the car without any arguments, Rose following him. The policeman next to me gestured and I nodded before climbing inside. Now I've been in police cars before and they certainly weren't like this. Leather seats, tinted windows, it felt like we were in the Godfather or some other movie.

"This is a bit posh," Rose grinned as the car started up, "If I'd known it was like this, being arrested, I would have done it years ago," she turned to look at me, "Was it like this when you got arrested?" I glared at her, and she mouthed an apology to me," I turned to look out of the window, watching the houses go past. I really did not want to discuss methods of being arrested.

The Doctor broke the tension that had erupted between us, "We're not being arrested," he told us. "We're being escorted," I blinked in understanding. Of course, that made the existence of this car so much obvious than using it to transport us to the nearest police station. Although in every defence the presence of the army hadn't exactly proved that they were going to be escorting us.

Rose was still confused, "But where to?" she asked him, and I looked over to them, clasping my hands together. I wanted to know what was happening at the moment. Pigs that were now aliens, wreckages that were now deliberate and arrests that were now escorts.

"Where do you think?" he answered back, with a grin, "Downing Street of course," I had to take a second to process that. Did he just say in all honesty: Downing Street?

"D-Downing Street?" I stuttered slightly, and he laughed, "Not...Ten Downing Street?" his smile answered my question, and I laughed outright, a hand coming to my mouth in faint shock, "You are joking...we're going to Ten Downing Street? The house where the Prime Minister lives? That Ten Downing Street? But how come?"

"Where else would we go?" he shrugged, and I laughed, shaking my head. He turned slightly serious, "I'd hate to say it," he carried on, "But Rickey was right, I've been visiting this planet, plenty of times, and over the years, I've been...noticed,"

I grinned at his enthusiasm at what was happening, "And now they need you?" Rose asked.

"Well," he puffed up a little, "Like they were saying on the news, they're gathering experts in alien knowledge," he wasn't afraid to big himself up about his expansive mind as was evident from his very smug smile, "And who's the biggest expert of them all?"

"Patrick Moore," I replied, my voice deliberately bland. He frowned at that and I snorted with laughter, "Oh, don't you just love it? Your day starts out getting slapped by my mother and apparently ending in getting escorted to Downing Street. This day is just getting...weirder by the second,"

He shrugged, his grin painted back onto his face again, "Never a dull day," he said, "But I can tell you, Lloyd George, he could drink me under the table any day," he frowned, "Who's the Prime Minister these days?"

Rose raised a hand, "Don't look at me, we've missed a year," she told him, and I looked out of the window to see the familiar black gates of Downing Street getting closer by every second. Downing Street and a lot of reporters. As someone who had lived in London her entire life, I had walked past those gates countless times before, been a part of the crowd that all jostled for a look of someone or anything coming out of the famous House. Now I was actually going to step inside it, "Can you see anything?" Rose asked.

"Reporters," I answered distantly, "Lots of...reporters," I settled down on the seat, "Well at least Mum will know that we're all right. We are about to step outside into a media thunderstorm, I'm sure we'll end up on some news channel who are all wondering who we are and what exactly we are doing going into Downing Street and all," the car stopped with a swift halt, and the door on my side opened. I slid out, and was immediately blinded by the flash of countless cameras. I wondered how celebrities could stand it constantly, probably explained why most of them wore sunglasses.

Rose was wearing the same expression that was on my own face. We were slightly out of our depth, and not really fitting in with the uniformed suits of the police and bodyguards that surrounded the place. The Doctor, on the other hand and almost naturally, was the complete opposite. A large wide smile on his face he waved happily to the crowd who clicked away at him. Never bashful of the attention that he was getting, and from the questions that the reporters were shouting out, they clearly thought he was someone important. I merely shook my head, walking into the house which the police ushered me through. I glanced at the door seeing the familiar 10 that shone brightly at me. A week ago if you had told me that I would be seeing this up close, I would have said that you were insane. But it would have been a wonderful way of being proved wrong.

The hallway was filled with official looking people, some of them being the people that we had seen from the news; the people from UNIT, other people however were dressed in plain suits, looking completely ordinary. But these were all people that were experts on aliens...people that knew about aliens. You really couldn't help but feel a little low in self esteem around them. Here I was, a shop girl, surrounded by people who knew about aliens as a living, probably scientists and other very clever people. All the experience I had with aliens consisted of ghosts, human trampolines and plastic dummies. But then none of these people were travelling with the greatest expert of them all. That had to count for something.

"You all right?" I jumped slightly as the Doctor's voice sounded behind me. I hadn't heard him come in, "It's a little busy in here. I wonder why they need so many experts. I mean they have me, don't they think that's enough?"

"Probably want a second opinion," I informed him, folding my arms and grinning, "So this UNIT is from the United Nations?" he nodded, "So they've known about aliens for years now, a whole organisation dedicated to fighting and researching aliens," he looked at me expectantly, "And no one knows about it. No one in the world,"

He looked slightly concerned, "Well not no one," he dithered a bit, before sighing, "You try explaining to the whole world that there are others in this huge universe. Other species, and other planets and other worlds," he shrugged, "It's huge to take in all at once. Not like the crash landing in the Thames, that was small enough to show the world," I raised my eyebrow, "Figuratively speaking. But if you shoved the whole truth onto the Earth, telling them of aliens and ideas way beyond this world? It would be anarchy. Slowly and steady wins the race. And the human race doesn't have the best track record with dealing with new things...and old,"

"You told us," I responded, thinking about it, "Rose and I, you told us about aliens and other worlds, you've showed them to us. Humans can take a lot in, accept the impossible truth. I'm proof of that," I let out a breath, "Don't you think that the rest of the human race could handle it as well?"

"Yeah, well you're special," he reasoned and I felt a slight blush on my face, "One in a thousand who can handle what reality is," he smiled, "Not everyone is accepting as you. I mean when we went to Platform One you never questioned the people there. You talked to the Face of Boe without hesitation. It's rare for someone to do that,"

"Oh, I questioned it," I corrected him, "Don't you remember? I definitely questioned it...but I didn't...I don't want it to rule my life. I've got so many problems already, that I don't want to be afraid of things that I don't need to be afraid of," he opened his mouth, "Excluding the wolf phobia," I interrupted him, "I'm just going to have to work through that as it comes. But this universe is big...just make sure we don't visit any Planet of the Wolves and I will be fine and happy," I looked around the room, "Maybe it's the fact that I never was very good at making friends amongst humans that I can handle this?"

"Maybe," he agreed, "Still," he clasped my hand in his, "I'm glad you're here," I grinned at him, "Now all we have to do is find the alien threat, see what exactly it wants with the Earth and everyone in it, and decide whether we ought to send it packing back to wherever it came from,"

"All in a day's work," I quipped.

He nodded, "You're getting the hang of this," he congratulated, "The next step is to not fall over when the TARDIS is flying," I grimaced at that slightly, and he broke into laughter. The TARDIS in flight was not one of the calmest ways of flying, "You'll feel fine after a couple more journeys,"

I was about to reply with something along the lines of having seatbelts, but a dark haired man suddenly raised his voice to silence the conversation that permeated the room, "Ladies and gentlemen," he called, "Can we convene? Quick as we can, it's this way on the right," he showed the way through a set of double doors, "And can I remind you, ID cards are to be worn at all times," he held up one to show us. The Doctor pulled me towards him, and I grabbed hold of Rose's hand at the last second. The man looked over us before giving an ID card to the Doctor, "Here's your ID card, I'm sorry but your companions," he looked at Rose and I, "Don't have clearance,"

The Doctor strung the ID around his neck, the tag looking rather awkward on him, "I don't go anywhere without them," he informed the man briskly, folding his arms as he made the point. I smiled at the man, "They're staying with me,"

"No, you're the Code Nine, not them," the usher told him, and from behind him, I saw a woman half turn towards us as if she recognised what that meant. She certainly was listening to our conversation, "I'm sorry, Doctor, it is the Doctor, isn't it?" the man in question nodded his answer, "But they'll have to stay outside," the Doctor opened his mouth, but was quickly cut across, "I'm sorry, but even I haven't got the clearance to go in there. I can't let her in and that's a fact,"

"Excuse me," the woman walked over to us, "Are you the Doctor?" she asked, but the Doctor and Rose were already talking about the conference. She looked over to me, "Is he the Doctor?"

"Yeah, who wants to know?" I inquired, before raising a hand to stop the man from interrupting, "I know that I can't go inside, I know I don't have clearance. My sister and I are going to stay out in the corridor while our friend is going to hear what is being said," I informed him and he looked annoyed, "Sorry," I apologised, before turning to the Doctor, "So we're staying here and you are going to go and talk to the experts?"

"In a sentence," he replied and I nodded. He pointed a finger at me, "Don't wander off," he said clearly, "And don't go getting yourself into any trouble. These might be the four safest walls in the country, but keep an eye out for trouble, and avoid it,"

I laughed, "What could possibly happen in Ten Downing Street?" I questioned, "Go on, we'll be find, nothing will happen," he jerked his head once before going into the conference. I looked at Rose, "Nothing is going to happen, is it?"

She chuckled, "I doubt it," she answered, "As the Doctor said this might be the four safest walls in the country," I viewed the security guards, "There certainly is enough guards to prevent anyone from getting in. We're going to be fine, nothing will happen here," we turned to look at the woman who had asked me about the Doctor, and the man who were talking to each other.

"It's all right," she seemed to be reassuring him, "I'll look after these two, let me be of some use," the man nodded reluctantly and immediately she steered us around to go through the doors, "Walk with me," she told us, "Just keep walking, don't look around," Rose and I shared a look, she seemed almost scared of something, "That's it," she held up a ID card, "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," she led us into an alcove, "This friend of yours," she looked down, "He's an expert, is that right? He knows about aliens?"

Rose and I shared another look of suspicion, "Why do you want to know?" Rose asked her, but tears were already sliding down Harriet Jones' face, "Hey, are you all right?" she placed a hand on the older woman's shoulder, "What's the matter?" she guided Harriet to a chair, "Sit down," Rose looked up at me, "Do you think you can get some water?"

"Sure thing," I agreed, walking back into the hallway, "Hey!" I called to the man who turned around to look at me, "Is there any water that I could have, it's rather warm in here," he sighed, passing me an unopened water bottle from under a desk, "Thank you very much," I went back to Harriet and Rose, opening the bottle and handing it to her, "Drink, you'll feel better,"

Harriet took a shaky sip, "I'm sorry, I don't often do that," she said, holding the bottle tightly, "It's just that..." she looked up, "I've seen an alien, here, in Downing Street, not half an hour ago," tears were still sliding down her face, "They killed a man and did..." she shook her head, "I can't tell you, it's too horrible,"

"You think you can show us?" said Rose to her, and Harriet looked towards the security men, "Don't worry about them, we can get past them easily. Please can you show us," Harriet rose on shaky legs before making her way up the stairs. Rose and I had no choice but to follow her.

We walked into a largish room, and Harriet picked up something from the floor. I recoiled slightly, seeing that it was the size of a man. I touched it and flinched back when I felt skin, "They turn the body into a suit," Harriet explained, "A disguise for the thing inside..." she placed her hands to her mouth in order to stop herself from crying.

"It's all right," Rose reassured her, "We believe you," she looked around, "It's alien, but whatever it might be, they must have some serious technology around somewhere which is behind this," she started to open drawers and I quickly followed her example, "If we could find it, we could use it," I opened a cupboard, before shrieking as a body fell on me, "Alice?"

I pushed the body off me onto the floor, before shaking myself all over, "A body," I said, turning to her, pointing at it, "A bloody body fell on me!" I shuddered, "A body in a cupboard, that's a first," I turned it over with my foot, before frowning, "He looks familiar," I looked at Harriet, "Is that-?"

"Harriet, for God's sake!" the man in the hall was back, and walking furiously towards us, "This has gone beyond a joke, you can't just walk around..." he trailed off as he saw the body that Harriet, Rose and I were standing around, "Oh my God, that's the Prime Minister,"

Oh. I looked down at the body of the Prime Minister. Damn. I didn't think that it looked very good for us three to be crowded around the dead and clearly murdered corpse of what was the most important man in the country, "We didn't kill him," I informed him and everyone turned to look at me, "He was in the cupboard and fell on me when I opened it," it sounded better inside my head so I tried a different tactic, "Are you sure that this is the Prime Minister?"

Before he could answer there was a giggle behind him. We all looked into the face of a rather squat, blonde haired woman, who was grinning at us with something akin to childish glee, "Oh, has someone been naughty?" she inquired, and her stomach made an awful squelching noise.

The man looked completely confused, "But that's not possible," he told her, as she walked towards us, the smile still plastered over her face, "The Prime Minister left Downing Street this afternoon, he was driven away..." realisation shone over his face as he looked at her.

"And who told you that?" she laughed, raising her shoulders in glee, "Me!"

And then she did something...something odd. She reached up into her forehead, dragging something that seemed like a zip from left to right. Blue crackling light shone out from behind that zip and suddenly I realised what exactly had inhabited that skin suit that Harriet had found. From what I could see as it dragged the skin suit down bit by bit, the alien was green, had very big eyes, and huge claws. And it was currently in the room with us. Well this broke the order to stay out of trouble from the Doctor.

When the skin suit was finally completely off, the creature rose up to about eight feet tall. Somewhat taller than us, and from the talons that it clicked at us, it was clear that even with four of us, we were hopelessly outmatched. With a roar it grabbed the man in front of us, pinning him to the wall, screaming. Harriet, Rose and I could only watch as his screams finally died and fell onto the ground as dead as the Prime Minister.

And from the look at the alien, it was clear that we were next.

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**So that's it with Aliens of London. World War Three next. See you then.**


	21. World War Three: Part 1

**I'm doing well for myself, three chapters within a week, but I suppose that's mainly because I'm going on holiday next week so unfortunately I won't be able to upload any more chapters until after then. Don't worry, it's only for a week.**

**So onto World War Three.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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World War Three: Part 1

And then all of a sudden lightning crept over the creature's skin, like electricity. The alien screamed in pain, its talons going to its neck as it tried to pull it off. Harriet, Rose and I all stared at it, only minutes ago it was threatening to kill us, and now it looked like it was going to die instead. Fair play, I thought, it didn't look like it would have particularly mourned our deaths, especially if it was going to be the one that ended our life. I looked at the man on the floor, I hadn't even known his name, hadn't even really liked him to be honest. But I hadn't wished for him to die.

Rose suddenly pushed at me, "Come on," she hissed, pulling Harriet and me around the creatures as it remained shouting in pain, writhing in agony, "Move, move, move!" I set off in a run, matching her willingness to get as far away from the creature as was humanly possible.

We ran through corridors, not looking where we were meant to be going, only knowing that wherever we went, as long as we were getting away from whatever had cornered us in the room, we were going to be safe, "Wait!" I almost fell over at Harriet's sudden shout, "No, they're still in there!" Rose and I stared at her in confusion, "The Emergency Protocols! We need them!"

She turned back to go and get them. I turned to Rose, "We better..." I started and she nodded, following after Harriet. However the plan of action was very quickly dropped once we turned the corner and was met with the large green creature, skin now put to rights, which was now chasing us, with a giddy laugh, "Run!" I tugged Harriet sharply in order for her to follow me as fast as she could, "I don't know about you," I told her as we ran down another corridor, "But I really don't think we need the Emergency Protocols right now,"

Rose was ahead of us, and as we passed through a doorway, she quickly slammed it closed, "You think that will hold them?" she asked me, before the door buckled and splintered as the alien burst through it, "Apparently not," I sighed, moving quickly through Downing Street. If I ever had children then this would be one hell of a bedtime story, "Can you run any faster?" she demanded, shutting another door.

"I'm trying," I shouted back at her, as yet another door burst off its hinges, "That's not doing anything useful, Rose," I murmured, before nearly slamming into a closed one. I tried the handle, "It's locked!" I kicked it wildly, seeing the creature right behind us, "And we're dead," the lift suddenly pinged, and the alien turned towards the sound.

"Hello," the Doctor said, cheerily, nodding towards the alien, and then nodding towards us. I was about to retort, but Rose, probably sensing what I was about to do, roughly shoved me through the open door, and heading into a sitting room.

I tried another door, "Locked again," I couldn't help but show the panic in my voice as I tried to open the door. And there was no other doors in this room, "Hide," Harriet immediately ran behind a screen that was propped up against the window, and Rose ducked on the other side of the desk. I, myself, decided to hide behind the curtains, silently praying that the alien would simple pass over me, and well...if the worst came to the worst, I could always jump out of the window. Might be painful, but I would escape with a few broken bones. Better than having my whole body snapped in two.

I tensed as the door to the room opened with a clatter and the heavy footsteps of the alien echoed in the silent room. A giggle was heard, and I forced myself to stop breathing when I heard it come further into the room, "Isn't this fun?" she crowed, "Little human children...where are you?" I swallowed heavily, concealed behind the heavy drapes. Perhaps I should have chosen a better place closer to the door. At least I would see where exactly the alien was. Behind the curtains, I was practically blind, not being able to see anything, "Sweet little humeykins, come to me. Let me kiss you better," it sounded like a concerned child, like a little child who would talk to a fly before ripping its wings off, "Let me kiss you with my big green lips,"

"Happy hunting?" I clapped a hand over my mouth in order to stop the gasp from leaving my mouth. So if things weren't bad enough with one big green alien on the loose, there had to be another one. One alien, and Harriet, Rose and I could probably outrun easily. Two made it a lot harder.

The woman green alien laughed again, "My brothers," she cooed to them, and I nearly shrieked as someone suddenly moved aside the curtain. I let out a breath when I saw that it was Rose, and gave her a half-hearted glare in order to tell her that she had nearly frightened me half to death. "It's wonderful, the more you prolong it, the more they stink," I couldn't help but shudder slightly at her words. I couldn't see how anyone could possibly be that callous about taking another's life that easily.

There was another low laugh, "Sweat and fear," spoke another voice. So the theory of having only two aliens to outrun had been quickly proved incorrect. There were now three of them, one for each of us, and I doubted that we could ever get passed them to the door without them noticing us.

"I can smell an old girl," the first of the male voices crowed, before his voice turned viciously sinister, "Stale perfume, and brittle bones," I grimaced at the sound of that, and Rose squeezed my hand gently at that, trying to not make any sudden movements. Curtains moving would be an obvious sign to where we were.

"And two ripe youngsters," the female alien answered, her voice sounding rather close to where we were hiding, "All hormones and adrenaline," I closed my eyes, pressing my back into the window, hoping that the gleeful tone in her voice was only due to the pleasure with the knowledge that they had cut off our escape route, rather than happiness at having found where exactly we were hiding, "And they're fresh enough, so they would bend before they snap!" the curtains were suddenly pulled back, Rose and I screaming as one as the alien bore down upon us, "Precious children!"

"No!" Harriet's voice shouted out in the room, "Take me! Take me first!" It was a fine thing to say, the fact that Harriet was trying to save us, and I would have appreciated the stance that Harriet was making, except with an alien standing right in front of us, its claws raised aloft and threatening, it was slightly void. Still, I liked her for trying.

The door suddenly banged open, and I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the Doctor. Truly, never had he been more welcome than he was right at this minute, "Out!" he shouted, before spraying what looked like a fire extinguisher at the aliens, "With me!" immediately I grabbed the drapes, and with Rose's help, managed to pull the curtain rail down onto the alien, making it muddled within the curtains. After that it was pretty easy to slip past it to run behind the Doctor, "Everyone here?" he asked, blasting the two male aliens again with the fire extinguisher. He turned to look at Harriet, "Who the hell are you?" he inquired.

"Harriet Jones," she told him quickly, holding up her ID badge. I had a feeling that this was becoming a habit for her, flashing her ID badge, "MP for Flydale North,"

The Doctor grinned, pressing sharply down onto the canister, "Nice to meet you, Harriet Jones," he said and she nodded rapidly. The canister suddenly ran out, "Time to go, I think," I wasn't about to argue with him, as long as it got us away from those aliens, I was happy to go along with anything that he suggest. Once again, we found ourselves running through the corridors of Downing Street, "We have got to get to the Cabinet Rooms," the Doctor told us, running ahead, Harriet, Rose and I following him quickly. I don't think that any of us really would know where exactly we would be going in the first place. Every corridor looked the same when we turned down it.

"That's what I said!" Harriet piped up, and I looked behind me as we ran. No aliens at this point in time, although I did nearly step on the back of Rose's foot in the process of doing so, "The Emergency Protocols are in there, they give instructions about aliens!"

"Harriet Jones, I like you," the Doctor called back to her, as we charged behind him. I was seriously going to have to get used to all this running, I could feel a stitch coming on in my left side, and it was threatening to become very painful.

"I like you too," Harriet answered, and I sighed, shutting another door behind me, "I think,"

"Not to be rude or anything," I called from the very back, "But could we possibly hurry this along a little faster?" I ducked quickly at the door behind me shattered as the three aliens stalked behind us. I could see splinters of wood fly overhead and really hoped that nothing would hit me in the process. That would, I think would probably make us go slower, and I really didn't fancy being skewered like a kebab by one of those talons. I had already seen their effectiveness, and had no wish to relive the experience.

Once again we hit a locked door, but with one quick buzz of the sonic screwdriver it sprung open. I really had to find a way of getting something like that just in case Rose and I had to repeat this experience of meeting far too many locked doors. I suppose sticking with the Doctor would quickly solve that problem. I looked around the Cabinet Room, seeing many doors leading off it, and silently hoped that the Doctor had a plan because although we could escape through many doors, the aliens could equally come in through the same doors.

The Doctor's idea was to grab a bottle of port off a side table, and he held it up, pressed against the sonic screwdriver as he faced the aliens, "One more move and my sonic device will triplicate the flammability of this alcohol," he informed them, "Woomph, we all go up, so back off," Whether what he said was true or not, it seemed to have worked as the aliens didn't come any closer. The Doctor lowered the bottle, "Right, question time, who exactly are the Slitheen?" he demanded.

"They're aliens," Harriet informed him, and we all looked at her as if that wasn't obvious. I didn't think that the Slitheen, if that was what they were, could be anything but alien. Indeed, compared to Cassandra and the Gelth, they were probably the archetypal alien that were always shown on TV.

The Doctor nodded, "I got that, thanks," he replied to her, "Can I get a bit of hush back there?" we were all silent at his words, "Thank you, much better," he looked back at the Slitheen, "Answer the question, who are the Slitheen,"

"Who are you if not human?" one of them asked, one of the male aliens. I supposed that was a fair point, although I did wonder at how he knew that the Doctor wasn't human. He looked like an ordinary man if you passed him on the street.

Harriet started to open her mouth, but I got there before she asked, "Yes, he's an alien," I said to her, and she looked at me, "I know, he looks human, but he's not. He's an alien, just one that doesn't look like what we think of as an alien," I frowned at that, going off into a tangent, "Or do we look like him? He's older, so technically we would look like him not the other way around," I caught her look, "Sorry," I grinned, "Lots of planets have a North, if you're wondering," she nodded shakily.

"I thought I asked for hush," the Doctor said amicably, turning towards me and I raised my hands in surrender, "Thank you," he turned to the Slitheen, "So what's the plan?" he questioned, and when they didn't answer him he raised the glass bottle threateningly, "Come on! You've got a spaceship hidden in the North Sea, it's transmitting a signal, and you've murdered your way to the top of the government. What for?" they were still silent, "Invasion?"

"Why would we want to invade this godforsaken rock?" the same Slitheen told us, "There's nothing on this world that we would want to invade for. The life forms here are completely primitive; they don't even have the technology to go outside this solar system,"

The Doctor frowned at that news. He was probably used to people only invading other planets. But he quickly picked up his spirits, "Then something must have brought the Slitheen race here," he retorted quickly, "What is it?" from their laughter, this was not the right thing to say, "Did I say something funny?"

"The Slitheen race?" the man repeated his words back to us, with a giggle, "Slitheen is not our species," once again they all laughed as if it were ludicrous to even contemplate, "Slitheen is our surname," we all blinked at that, that had been unexpected, "Jocrassa Fel Fotch Pasameer Day Slitheen," he bowed slightly, and I wrinkled my nose at him, "At your service,"

The Doctor brightened at that, as if he had been struck by lightened, "So you're family...it's a family business," he told them, "Which means that you are out to make a profit. How could you possibly do that on a Godforsaken rock?"

One of the other Slitheen inched forward, closer to the door, "Err," he drawled out the word, "Excuse me," we all turned to look at him, "Your sonic device will do what?" the Doctor blinked at him and I let out a long breath, still completely on edge, "Triplicate the flammability of the alcohol?"

The Doctor grimaced, looking at the port and sonic screwdriver in his hands, "Is that what I said?" he questioned them.

I realised something, "You were making it up?" I said to him, and the Doctor turned to look at me, with an exasperated look on his face, "If I hadn't of said it then someone else would have," I reasoned, and he shrugged, "Oh well, it was a nice try though," he passed the alcohol me and I immediately passed it to Rose, seeing that Harriet had the Emergency Protocols held tightly in her arms, "Rose, you might want a drink, you're going to need it," she took it with a nod to me, opening the top and drinking a little out of it. I looked towards the Slitheen, "Don't suppose you've got another plan up your sleeves, Doctor?"

The Slitheen in answer raised their arms aloft, clicking their talons again. Their blood lust and what courage they had, no doubt had been roused once again once they had learnt that we were not all going to be blown up due to alcohol, "Now we can end this hunt," the female Slitheen laughed, walking forward, "With a slaughter,"

Harriet, Rose and I all stepped back, ready to break into a run as soon as the Slitheen decided to go for us. The Doctor on the other hand, hadn't moved from where he was standing, instead folding his arms and looking at the Slitheen as if to say, 'Don't even think about it' in his usual confident manner. To his credit, it appeared to be working, the aliens hadn't decided to attack us at the moment, "Don't you think we should run?" Rose asked him, practically taking the words out of my mouth in the process.

He ignored her, instead focussing on the Slitheen, "Fascinating history, Downing Street," he informed them, "Two thousand years ago, this was marshland," I blinked at him. We were about to get slaughtered by green, giggling aliens and he was giving them a history lesson. I was all for learning history, but perhaps this wasn't the best time for a lesson, "Seventeen thirty, it was occupied by a Mr Chicken," he laughed slightly to himself, "He was a nice man. Seventeen ninety six, this was the Cabinet Room," the Slitheen were getting closer to us, "If the Cabinet is in session and in danger, then these are about the four most safest walls in the whole of Great Britain," he opened the light switch to reveal another switch underneath, "End of Lesson," he pressed it hard and immediately thick grey shutters closed over all the walls in the room, "Installed in nineteen ninety one, three inches of steel, lining every single wall," he grinned smugly to himself, "They'll never get in,"

"That's impressive," I agreed with him, looking around the room, "Very impressive, Doctor," I could see the gaping hole in his plan, "There's just one thing," he nodded, "They can't get in," he folded his arms, "How exactly do we get out?"

His smile quickly became very wry, suddenly realising what was the problem with his plan, "Ah," he answered, "Didn't think of that," I nodded slowly, sitting on one of the chairs, and looking at the ceiling. Slitheen on the outside, probably monitoring every doorway so we couldn't escape through any of the doors. I could feel that getting out of this siutation was going to take a while.

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**So this story has officially passed 50 reviews, which is amazing really. I love hearing from people. **

**See you soon.**


	22. World War Three: Part 2

**Another chapter, hurrah. For an episode that is mainly confined to one room, there is a lot of dialogue.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine **

World War Three: Part 2

"So," I smiled slightly, looking up at the ceiling, "Although this room completely neutralises anyone that is trying to get into the room, it also means that we can't get out. I wonder if that includes the floor," I sighed, resting on one of the chairs, "Meanwhile outside there are three big green Slitheen aliens outside apparently not invading the Earth but for some other purpose. I suppose there isn't any way that we could contact the police on the ground floor?"

"They didn't believe me when I said that the Prime Minister was an alien in disguise," the Doctor was examining the steel shutters carefully with his sonic screwdriver, "So, I don't think they'll believe me again if I say that there are now three aliens upstairs," I hummed my agreement, "And I think they might have decided to change into their skin suits by then," I twirled on the chair, watching Harriet go through the Emergency Protocols, "There isn't any way I can tell what's on the other side of these doors. The steel is too thick,"

"We could just open them and see what's going on," Rose proposed and the Doctor looked over to her, "There are two doors in this room, we could stand at a different one, open the shutters and then run for the fire alarm as fast as we could,"

"That could work," I agreed, still spinning on the chair with my eyes closed, "I mean hitting the fire alarm. It would alert everyone to the fact that something was happening inside Downing Street," I chuckled, "Slitheen in Downing Street..." I thought about it, "Actually just Downing Street," I stopped the chair in the Doctor's direction, "Doctor, what do you think that the Slitheen will do first; now that we're inside the metal box with no way out, they're free to do what they want without us blasting fire extinguishers at them,"

He leant against the wall, "I'd cut off all types of transmissions that we could use," he replied, bluntly, "And then I don't know, because we still don't know what they want from this planet," he pocked the sonic screwdriver, "However that idea of reaching the fire alarm is a very good one, and I think that we should do it as fast as possible before the Slitheen get any further into their plan than they have already,"

"Always a good idea," I said, standing up, "So we each pick a door, any door, run for the fire alarm. Two doors, three Slitheen and four of us, one of us could surely make it while the rest of us distract them," the Doctor nodded, and I moved over to a door, Rose and Harriet picking the other door. The Doctor stood next to me, flipping open the light switch, ready to press it, "So..." I grinned, "Last one to the fire alarm is a rotten egg?" Rose shot me an exasperated look and I muffled the smile, "Ready?"

"Three...two...one," the Doctor counted down, before pressing the button and the steel shutters snapped open quickly. I recoiled backwards when we were faced with five giant Slitheen standing in the doorway, and when I half turned to look at Rose and Harriet's door I saw that there were the same amount in their doorway. The Doctor slammed down the button again, the shutters sliding across the doors again; "Then again," he rubbed his head, "Maybe not," I sat down in the chair again, well that idea was short lived, "Any other plans?"

"Not on me," I retorted playfully, shooting him a grin, "Not unless you have several high powered drills, a blueprint of Downing Street as well as a very clever plan of finding out what the Slitheen are up to, in your pockets? Then I might have a plan of getting us out of here,"

He patted his pockets, "Not on me," he repeated, before looking over to the bodies that lay on the floor, "But I think the first thing that we should do is move them into the cupboard. They shouldn't be out here," I nodded, "Do we know who they are?"

Harriet was once again going through the red box, "That's the Prime Minister," she answered as I lifted up the man's legs, the Doctor on the other end, "He was only in power for a short while, I rather liked him," we shuffled into the cupboard lying him down crookedly. I sighed, straightening up, I had never known the man, him having been elected while we had been away but I pitied him for the death that he must have suffered. Especially since he had been killed by someone that he thought that he could trust.

The Doctor was already moving the other man into the cupboard. The man that had been killed not a half hour earlier in front of Rose, Harriet, and I. Although since meeting the Doctor it hadn't been the first death that I had seen, it had been, by far the most grisly death by far, "What about this one?" he inquired. Harriet frowned, looking around at him, "This one, the secretary or whatever he was?" I walked back outside the cupboard, joining Rose in her attempt to search for something that would be of use.

"Oh," she sat back from the box, "I don't know," she replied, realising that she had no idea who the man had been, "I spoke to him, I brought him a cup of coffee, but I never asked him what his name was. He knew mine though," she fiddled with the box, "He was just doing his job,"

I saw the Doctor touched the man's hands, folding them over each other, out of the corner of my eye, "Sorry," I heard him murmur to him, before striding out into the larger room, pulling his screwdriver out of his jacket pocket, buzzing the edges of the shutters again, "Right, what have we got, any terminals or anything?"

"Nope," Rose shut up another drawer, and resting against the chest, "This place is completely antique," she frowned, "What I don't get is that when they killed the Prime Minister, why didn't they use him as a disguise with one of those skin suits? They seemed to do it easily enough with that woman from MI5 and that Army bloke,"

The Doctor shook his head, moving onto the next shutter, "Nah," he disagreed, "You saw them, they're big old beasts. The Prime Minister is far too slim for them to fit inside. It looks like they're not fitting too well into the larger ones either, but the Prime Minister would be impossible to get into. They need to fit inside big humans,"

Rose frowned, "I'm confused," she admitted, and I flashed a smile in her direction, "Oi, don't pretend you're not," she warned me and I threw up the peace sign at her. She turned back to the Doctor, "The Slitheen are about eight feet tall; how do they squeeze into the bodies that they already occupy?"

He scanned another window as I rummaged around in a drawer, pulling out a large magnifying glass, "That's the device around their necks, it's a compression field," he explained, "Literally shrinks them down a bit. That's why there's all that gas, it's a big exchange,"

I laughed, looking through the magnifying glass at Rose, "I could do with one of them," I mused, grinning at her, "Compression field, yeah. You could use one," I suggested, and she elbowed me in the side. I swatted her lightly back, smiling, "Could fit a size smaller,"

We both burst out laughing, "Excuse me!" Harriet sounded scandalised, and both Rose and I stopped our laughter in the face of her offended tone, "People are dead!" she reminded us, "This is not the time to be making jokes,"

"Sorry," Rose apologised to her, "You get used to this stuff pretty quickly when you're friends with him," she pointed at the Doctor, before placing her arms around my neck, "And when you've lived all your life with her as your sister,"

She blinked at us as I smiled winningly back, "That's a very odd friendship," she claimed and we both shrugged, "Actually, I don't think I ever got either of your names, I'm sorry,"

"She's Rose and I'm Mary-Anne," I informed her quickly, sitting down in the chair opposite her, "But please, call me Alice, everyone does," I looked over to the Doctor, "Well nearly everyone does," I pointed at Rose, "We're sisters, but she's older and has blonde hair. You've already introduced yourself to the Doctor, who is just called the Doctor, no last name," I paused slightly, wondering if the Doctor would provide the information but he stayed silent, "Very pleased to meet you, Harriet Jones,"

"Harriet Jones," the Doctor said suddenly, turning towards her, "I've heard that name before, Harriet Jones," he studied her carefully, "You're not famous or anything are you?" she shook her head, and he paced around the room, "Rings a bell, Harriet Jones," he walked off towards the other door, lost in thought.

Harriet laughed, "Famous?" she repeated, "Hardly. I'm a lifelong backbencher, I'm afraid," she placed her head in her hands, looking at the red box filled with files for the protocols, with something akin to despair in her eyes, "And a fat lot of good I'm doing right now," she waved a file in our direction, "The protocols are redundant," I sighed, there went another option for us out of the window, "They list the people that could help us and they're all dead downstairs," she threw the paper back in its box.

Rose walked towards the box, leafing through the different files that were kept in them, "Hasn't it got like, defence codes or something?" she asked Harriet, who looked confused, "Couldn't we just launch a nuclear bomb at them," she turned to me, "It would work, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," I affirmed her idea, my head resting on the palm of my hand, "But there is a problem with launching any type of nuclear missile at the Slitheen," she nodded, "We are here, in Downing Street, where the Slitheen also are, and I'm not to sure about you, but I would rather not be vaporised into atoms along with seven and a half million people who live in London," I shrugged at her, "But other than that obstacle, it's a very good plan and it would stop the Slitheen,"

Harriet looked between us, "You're both very violent young women," she informed us and I twirled on my chair again, "Besides there's nothing like that in here," she held up her box, "Nuclear strikes do need a release code, yes, but they're kept secret by the United Nations, we can't touch them,"

"Say that again," the Doctor's voice made me jump a little and I turned to look at him, "Say it all again, everything, all of it,"

"What, about the codes?" Harriet inquired and he nodded, "Well," she paused for a bit, to gather her thoughts, "The British Isles can't gain access to atomic weapons without a Special Resolution from the United Nations," I rolled my eyes and she caught the cynical look on my face, "Well, exactly," she nodded, "Given our past record, and I did vote against that, thank you very much," she seemed very proud at that fact, "But the codes have been taken out of the government's hand and have been given to the United Nations," she looked up at the Doctor, "Is it important?"

"Everything's important," he murmured lightly, staring ahead.

She sighed, "I would help if we knew what the Slitheen wanted," I bit my lower lip, looking up at the ceiling again, that was certainly true. We weren't any further to learning the truth of why the Slitheen were here on Planet Earth only that they had been here a while, rewired a pig and sent a spaceship up and down. Oh and murdered the Prime Minister. I looked down when I heard Harriet scoffed slightly to herself, "Look at me, I'm saying Slitheen as if it's normal,"

"Well," the Doctor paced around the room again, thinking it over, "You heard them, they're just one big family, more than the three that we saw originally from the amount there was when we tried to open the shutters. Seeing as they're a family, they're not out for an invasion. They don't want Slitheen World," I shuddered lightly at the thought of that prospect, "They're out to make money," the Doctor was really getting into the stride of thinking this through, and I watched him carefully, "That therefore means that they're going to use something, something here on Earth," he looked around the room, "Some kind of asset that they can use to make a decent profit out of,"

"Something that combines radiation in the North Sea, the death of the Prime Minister and a fake crash landing," I finished for him, and he looked faintly surprised, "I've been taking notes," I leaned back in my chair, "What could they possibly want from the Earth? You said that they didn't want an invasion so the chances are that they don't want to use the human population as a slave workforce for something. So it must be some kind of material. Gold? Oil?" I thought for a second, "There's lots of water on the Earth,"

He smiled at me, "You're getting very good at this, Mary-Anne," he said and I grinned, rocking back on the hind legs of my chair. A beeping sounded through the room, and he looked around, "Is that yours?" I shook my head, pointing at Rose, who pulled out her phone.

Harriet looked towards Rose, "But we're sealed off," she exclaimed, "How did you get a signal in here?" My sister nodded towards the Doctor, clicking on her phone, "But surely now you can phone somebody, you must have contacts that can come to help,"

"Dead downstairs, yeah," the Doctor answered dryly, and Harriet slumped back in her chair.

I looked over at Rose, who was looking at her phone with a familiar look on her face. She always got that look when she was talking to Mickey, "Rose," she looked over at me suddenly, "Tell your stupid boyfriend that we've got bigger problems than what's happening with the football," I told her, "We're a little busy,"

She glared at me, sliding the phone over to me, and I picked up the phone, "He's not so stupid after all," she said to me, and I looked at the picture, running an agitated hand through my hair. On the picture that was on the screen was one of the Slitheen, the electricity that had been present on the one that I had seen also showing on the photo, "Alice?"

"Ahh," I murmured, "Err, Doctor, you might want to have a look at this," I passed the phone to the Doctor, who rolled his eyes at the photo, "Looks like Mickey has found a Slitheen of his own," I turned to Rose, "Do you want to phone and see if he's all right," she nodded, taking the phone off the Doctor. I shared a look with him, knowing that he thought that Mickey complicated the whole matter. Rose placed the phone to her ear, turning away from us, and I leant on the table, "If there is a Slitheen running around outside Downing Street, do you think that it won't come here? The rest of the Slitheen are here,"

"I'm not sure," he replied to me, "It might stay there, but I think that it's most likely going to come here. Downing Street is where everything is happening after all," he leaned on one of the chairs, watching me closely, "Are you all right?" I frowned in confusion, "Big green Slitheen trying to kill us with no way out and no way of telling how what they are up to?"

"Oh," I realised, "No, I'm fine, I think I'm actually getting used to the whole near death episodes now. This makes number four," I looked over to Rose who was talking quietly to Mickey, "Just worried about her, I would be the last person to say that I liked Mickey, but if anything happened to him then she'd be gutted. I don't want her to be unhappy or for something to happen to her," he nodded softly, "Besides I'm in Downing Street, not many people can say that they've been in here," I half smiled to myself, "I'm going to have to write this all down in my diary when we get out of here, I don't want to forget a second of-"

"Mum was almost attacked," Rose interrupted me, turning around. I blinked at her, "It's was a policeman that had been apparently following up why she had rung the police hotline that got us nearly arrested outside the TARDIS," I flopped back in my chair, and she walked over to me, bending down so I could hear what Mickey was saying.

"...No, no, no," he was seemingly in mid-sentence, talking at a very fast rate that I had to concentrate very hard to be able to hear what on earth he was trying to say, "Not just alien, but like, proper alien, like all stinking and wet and disgusting, and more to the point, it wanted to kill us!"

"I could have died!" I heard Mum shout in the background, and rolled my eyes at her dramatics. Rose shot me a hard look, and I turned away from her stare, looking at the other end of the room.

Rose sighed, "Is she all right?" she asked, before immediately saying, "Don't put her on, just tell her," she hit my leg slightly when I smirked at her. She cared about what happened to Mum but she didn't want to be held up for hours talking to her on the phone. The situation was ridiculous.

The Doctor suddenly took the phone out of her hand, holding it up to his ear, "Is that Rickey?" he inquired pleasantly to Rose's boyfriend, and I could hear the protests on the other end of the phone, "Don't talk, just shut up and go to your computer," there was another babble on the other end, "Mickey the Idiot, I might just choke before I finish this..." the Doctor didn't look pleased at what he was thinking, "But, I need you," I laughed at that, but at the lack of conversation on the other end, "I need you to get into the United Nations database, don't ask why, just do it,"

He walked over to the other end of the table, pulling out a wire from one of the bases in the middle, and plugging it into the phone, "Found that plan you needed?" I asked him, innocently, and he shot me a playful look, "I'm not arguing about it. But you do have a plan?" he nodded, "Oh good,"

Mickey's voice came from the phone, "It says password," he said, "It's asking for a password, and I can't get into the database without it so it would help if we could have it rather quickly," he didn't sound pleased to be doing what the Doctor ordered anymore than the Doctor was pleased to be asking Mickey to do what he wanted.

"Buffalo," the Doctor answered, "Two F's, one L and hurry up,"

I heard a faint babble from what sounded like Mum, and Mickey answered, saying, "All the secret information known to mankind," he told her, and I sighed audibly, "See, they've known about aliens for years, and they've kept us in the dark," it sounded like the conversation that I had with the Doctor before he had gone into that conference. I wondered whether he was going to offer up the same explanation to Mickey.

However the Doctor was slightly more blunt when it came with Mickey, and simply said, "Mickey, you were born in the dark," not listening to Rose or Mickey's annoyed comments, "Now if there are any more boxes that ask for the password just repeat it every time," he look down, his mind clearly whirring at a hundred miles an hour, "Big Ben, why would the Slitheen deliberately crash into Big Ben, it can't have been for the experts, that lot would have gathered for a weather balloon. You wouldn't need to crash-land in the middle of London for them,"

"They're also hiding," I pointed out, "You mentioned it yourself earlier, there were supposed aliens in middle of London when they found that pig in the spaceship, but you wanted to keep yourself out of the fray because people would pick up on it. But the Slitheen seem to have put all of them right into the epicentre of the chaos, they've put the whole world on red alert. Why on Earth would they do that? You would think that it would make them more vulnerable,"

Mum's voice scoffed over the speaker, "Oh listen to her," she said scathingly, "Thinking that she knows what she's talking about,"

I leant on the table, looking at the mobile, "Well I do actually have a vague idea of what is going on, thank you," I snapped at her, "I'm in the middle of Downing Street with a genius, an MP and Rose, so if you have got something to say then say it now and not when we're in the middle of saving the planet, because I can assure you that we're going to be pretty busy when that happens,"

"Fine," she retorted, "I've got a question if you don't mind. Because ever since that man has walked into our lives the only problems I have ever had was from you, Alice," I pushed myself off the table, folding my arms, "But since he's been around, I've been attacked in the street, I've had creatures from the pits of hell in my own living room, and I've had both my daughters disappear from the face of the Earth,"

"Oh now you care," I muttered, ignoring the look from Rose, and was handed a glass of port from Harriet, "And we told you what happened,"

"You know what I mean, Alice," Mum said, and I clamped my mouth shut, "And I'm talking to him," I looked at the Doctor, "Because I've seen this life of yours Doctor, and maybe you get off on it, maybe you think it's all clever and smart, but you tell me, just answer me this," she paused, "Tell me that they are safe,"

I shared a look with Rose, shifting awkwardly. I would never say that the life with the Doctor was safe in any way. Since I had met him I had seen death, I had seen Rose nearly burned to death, and been nearly possessed by ghosts. But then there had been other things that I had also seen, I had seen the Earth exploding, met Charles Dickens, the Face of Boe, and had really had the time of my life in the process. And I had met the Doctor, probably a once in a lifetime opportunity, and he had offered twice. If a little danger was the cost of travelling through space and time then I would take it in a half beat, and I could see that Rose thought the same way, "We're fine," she told Mum.

She wasn't reassured by Rose, "Are they safe?" she insisted and I looked at the Doctor, him at one end of the long table and me at the other, "Will they always be safe? Can you promise me that," I met the Doctor's eyes and knew that he could never promise that without breaking his word, "Well?" Mum demanded, "What's the answer?" I continued to look at the Doctor, not even blinking, wondering what he was going to say.

However the next thing that was said came from Mickey, and that was simply: "We're in,"

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**I'm trying to get World War Three done by the time I go on holiday so fingers crossed for that. **


	23. World War Three: Part 3

**So another day, another chapter. There's only one problem with this episode is that it pretty much only takes place in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street, there's no moving room one place to another. Still, that's for other chapters, I suppose.**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who is not mine.**

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World War Three: Part 3

As soon as Mickey's voice echoed through the speakerphone, the moment was lost, and the Doctor delved back into the imminent problem at hand. I swallowed heavily, knowing that he couldn't answer the question concerning the whether Rose and I would be safe or not, "Right," I looked at the Doctor as he leaned on the table, "Now then, on the left, at the top, there should be a tab, an icon, like little concentric circles, click on that,"

Immediately the room was filled with a weird shushing noise, like the sound that you heard when you pressed a shell to your ear when you were on the beach. It seemed to be on a loop as it got louder, then quieter before repeating it, "What is it?" Mickey asked.

"The Slitheen have got a spaceship in the North Sea, and it's transmitting that signal," the Doctor explained, listening carefully. Clearly he could translate what it was saying because it just sounded like noise to me, "Now hush," he told us, "Let me work out what it's saying," there was a faint babble on the other end but it seemed to just be Mum and Mickey talking to each other. The Doctor frowned at the loop, "It seems to be some sort of message," he looked up at us, "And before you ask, I don't know what it says, but it's repeating, it's on a loop," there was a ringing noise on the other end, "Hush,"

"It's not me," Mickey hissed to him, and I leant back in my chair again, "Jackie, go and see who it is,"

I turned to look at the clock on the wall, "It's three o'clock in the morning," I said, stretching a little, I hadn't realised how long I had been awake for, or how long we had been trapped in this room for. When I got the chance, I was going to go to sleep for a very long time just to prepare myself for any new incoming dangers. I didn't want to fall asleep in the middle of an alien invasion, "Who could possibly be ringing at this time in the morning?" I rubbed my cheek, "Who could be awake at this time?"

The Doctor wasn't listening, still focussed on the signal that was coming through the speakers, "It's beaming out into space," he told us as we were gathered around the table looking at the speakerphone. He still wasn't able to translate it properly, "But who's it for?"

There was a sudden squeal on the other end of the phone, and I jerked up in my chair. That sounded an awful lot like Mum, and considering that she had just been almost skewered by a Slitheen, a mere couple of hours ago, it couldn't be anything good, "They've found us," announced Mickey, confirming my thoughts, "It's the Slitheen that was in Jackie's flat earlier, what do we do?"

The Doctor clearly didn't process that thought through properly, as the first thing that he said to Mickey on the other end of the phone was, "Mickey, I need that signal," Rose and I both looked at him. For all our problems, I didn't want Mickey or Mum to go the same way that the man had earlier in front of us. And who would rescue us if they were dead. No one apart from the Slitheen, Mickey and Mum knew that Harriet, Rose, the Doctor and I were trapped in the Cabinet Room by steel shutters.

"Never mind the signal," Rose interrupted him, "Just get out of there! Mum, just get out,"

"Rose," she looked at me, "They're in a flat, on the fifth floor of a block of flats. There's no way that they can get out other than the front door, and I bet that's blocked," I looked at the Doctor, "What do we do?" he looked up at me, "Doctor, what do we do?"

"We can't get out, it's by the front door," Mickey's panicked voice came through the speakers, and I closed my eyes, "And it's unmasking, there's all this blue light coming through the door," we all could hear his breathing which was getting quicker and quicker in fear, "Oh my God, it's going to kill us,"

I stood up pacing the room in a panic, as Rose bounced up and down on the balls of her feet in agitation, "There's got to be a way of stopping these things," Harriet demanded, looking at the Doctor, "You're supposed to be the expert, think of something!"

"I'm trying!" the Doctor retorted sharply, moving around the room, "It's just sort of difficult when we've already got to sort out the Slitheen that are already in Downing Street, and trying to do that when we're stuck in a room which has no way of escape. But apart from that, I'm trying to solve this out," he crossed over to me, "Mary-Anne," I looked up at him, still pacing slightly, "I'll get them out, I promise," I nodded distractedly, "Hey," I bit the inside of my cheek, as I forced myself to stand still, "I will get them out, and we will be all right,"

There was a shriek from Mum on the phone and I flinched sharply, hating the very sound of it, "That's my Mother," I told him, rubbing my arms quickly, "And I know I haven't been the best daughter to her, I'm been downright terrible at it, if I'm being honest, still am. I left for a year and I couldn't bring myself to really care that I missed it, and I still don't care really," I shook slightly in fear, "And we don't exactly get on, our relationship is not the best it could be. But she's my mother," I looked at him, "She's my mother, and I swear to you that if you get her out of there alive then I'd follow you to the ends of the universe," I shook my head minutely, "She's my mother,"

He immediately leapt into action, "Right then," he moved around the table, "If we're going to find their weakness, we need to find out where they're from, and what planet," he looked up at Harriet, Rose and I, "So, judging on their basic shape, that narrows it down to about five thousand planets within travelling distance, what else do we know about them? Information!"

"They're green!" Rose immediately leapt in with, and the Doctor nodded, "Err...they can smell adrenaline, you said that the spaceship in the Thames had a, what was it?" she frowned, "A slipstream engine," the Doctor nodded rapidly, "What else? They hunt like it's a ritual!"

"They've got a good sense of smell!" Harriet inputted, reeling off everything that she could think of, "That pig technology!" I could hear some kind of crunching that was coming from the phone, which didn't seem to reassure me on what was happening on the other end. I would never forgive myself if something happened to Mum. I might not have liked her very much, but that didn't mean that I didn't love her. She was my mother, and she had been there since I was born.

They looked at me, and I frowned, trying to think of something, "The compression field that they wear around their necks," I added, scrolling through the different things that I knew about the Slitheen, "The fact that they're using skin suits...large families," I remembered something, "Oh, and the fact that they use some sort of radiation to send that message into space, the one on the UNIT database,"

"Wait a minute!" Harriet hit on something and we all looked at her, "Did you notice, when they fart- if you'll pardon the word," she apologised to us, "It doesn't just smell like a fart- if you'll pardon the word, it's something else, more like..." I frowned at her, understanding what she was saying but not being able to remember what exactly the gas smelt like.

"Bad breath!" Rose shouted out, and Harriet nodded in agreement.

"Calcium decay!" the Doctor answered, just as there was a roar on the phone. The Slitheen had no doubt gotten into the flat now, and was charging towards them, "Now that narrows it down!" he paced a little, "Calcium phosphate, organic calcium, living calcium, creatures made out of living calcium. What else, what else?" he struggled to remember, before the figurative light bulb switched on, "Hyphenated surname! Yes! That narrows it down to one planet! Raxacoricofallapatorius!"

I stared at him. That was the name of their planet? Raxacori...I had already forgotten what he had said. Talk about a mouthful to remember. Mickey seemed to be thinking the same as me, "Oh great, we can send them a letter!" he remarked sarcastically, "But it's too late, it's already inside!"

"You need to get inside the kitchen," the Doctor ordered, "They're made of calcium, and that's weakened by the compression field that they're wearing around their necks, so you'll need to find some acetic acid in your kitchen. Vinegar!"

"Just like Hannibal!" Harriet informed us, triumphantly.

I pointed to her, "I actually understand that reference," I said, proudly, "Just like Hannibal," I leant on the table, "Mickey, do you have anything that contains vinegar in your flat," there was a garbled reply from him saying something like how would he know if he had vinegar. I rolled my eyes, forgetting that a Slitheen was trying to kill them, "You do actually live in your flat, Rickey, I would have thought that you knew what type of food you bought from the shops,"

Rose interrupted me, "Can we do this when they're not about to die by a green alien?" she asked me, and I paused before nodding, "Mickey, it's in the cupboard by the sink, middle shelf," she caught my look, "So I did his shopping for him once in a while," I scoffed at that, "Fine, I did it all the time. Sue me,"

"I thought we were talking about this later when Mum and Mickey weren't in imminent danger from a rampaging Slitheen," I told her dryly, and she glared at me. I smiled at her irritation, "I'm focussing now. Mickey," I said to the man on the other end, "Give the phone to Mum, she'll know what we need,"

"Oh give it hear," Mum's voice came on the other end, "Right then, you need vinegar?" there was the sound of clinking glass, "Gherkins!" she shouted proudly, "Pickles onions!" there was the pop of a jar being opened, "Yeah, pickled eggs!"

The Doctor looked up at Rose, "And you kiss this man?" he questioned and she made a slight noise of annoyance.

There was a screeching roar on the phone and all of us listened at there was a sudden gargled farting noise, before an explosion on the other end, and then silence apart from the sound of Mum and Mickey breathing. All of us, even the Doctor let out a sigh of relief, finally glad that we had managed to stop the imminent danger. Rose chuckled a little, "Hannibal?" she asked Harriet, confused, "What has Hannibal actually got to do with vinegar?"

We all turned to Harriet, "Hannibal crossed the Alps," she told us, "By dissolving boulders with vinegar," I collapsed into a chair, picking up my glass of port. I looked over at Rose, who was nodding in understanding. All of us raised our glasses in a silent toast to one another, and I drunk it swiftly, wincing slightly at the taste. It wasn't my favourite alcohol in the world, and seeing the Doctor spit his drink back into the glass with a disgusted grimace.

"One Slitheen down," I said, resting back in the chair, "About ten more to follow," I looked over at the Doctor, "Have you managed to work out what the message is?" he shook his head slightly, "Thank you," he nodded silently, before smiling slightly, "Guess you're stuck with me until you decide to go to the end of the universe," we all started laughing, but I trailed off when I remembered something, something that Gwyneth had said to me when she had been running through my mind, _'And you'll fly so far...further than anyone has ever gone before, all the way forward to the end of time, itself. And all the way back to the beginning,'_

The Doctor had noticed my sudden shiver because he said, "Are you all right?" I nodded, distracted at him, still thinking about what Gwyneth had said. It was entirely possible for what she said to come true, the Doctor had a time machine that could travel everywhere and anywhere. But the fact that she had mentioned it meant that there was something that was going to happen then. And I wasn't sure that I wanted to know when it came to it.

"Hey!" Mickey's voice came through the fog of my thoughts and I startled myself aware, "You need to listen to this,"

The acting Prime Minister's voice came through the speakers, crackling slightly. It was one of the Slitheen that had tried to kill us a couple of hours ago. Mickey was probably holding the phone up to a radio or a television because it sounded like a news report, "...our inspectors have searched the skies above our heads and found massive weapons of destruction. Capable of being deployed within forty five seconds," Rose, Harriet, the Doctor and I all looked at each other in confusion, "Our technicians can baffle the alien probes but not for long, we are facing extinction," he sounded so sincere, it made me feel ill, "Unless, we strike first. The United Kingdom stands directly beneath the belly of the mother ship. I beg of the United Nations, pass an Emergency Resolution. Give us the access codes! A nuclear strike at the heart of the beast is our only chance of survival. Because as of this moment, it is my solemn duty to inform you, Planet Earth is at war,"

The Doctor stormed around the room, looking thunderously anger, "He's making it up," he snapped, and I chewed my bottom lip, ripping it into shreds. It was a stupid habit. "There's no weapons up there, there's no threat; he's just invented it!"

"Do you think that they'll believe him?" Harriet asked him, and we all looked towards her, silently answering her question, "Of course," she nodded, before sighing deeply, "We all did last time, that's why the experts were called in here,"

"That's why the Slitheen went for spectacle," the Doctor announced, sounding calm but a rippling anger underneath his tone belied the anger that he was feeling, "They want the whole world panicking, because you lot, you see something that you don't understand and poses a threat, and you get scared. You lash out,"

"And the United Nations will release the defence codes for the nuclear weapons," I finished, "And the Slitheen can do what they like with them," I turned to look at him, "But you said they didn't want to invade Earth. What else would they need the nuclear codes?"

His answer was to stalk over to the shutters, pressing the button, and the metal doors open. The Slitheen turned towards us, but not moving forward to attack us which was probably because they saw that the Doctor was that angry, "You get the access codes and launch the missiles, but not into space, because there's nothing there," the Doctor told them, "You attack every other country on Earth. They retaliate, fight back. World War Three, and the whole planet gets nuked,"

The Slitheen woman that had killed the secretary walked forward still in her skin suit and with a grin that made Rose, Harriet and I all step back slightly, "And we can sit through it, safe in our spaceship, waiting in the Thames," she informed us, "Not crashed, just parked. Barely two minutes away,"

"But you'll destroy this planet!" Harriet protested. I thought that was rather the point that the Slitheen was putting across, "This beautiful place. What could you possibly want by doing all of that to us?"

"Profit," the Doctor answered, his voice showing the disgust that he felt, "That's what the signal is for. You heard it on the phone," none of us bothered to say that we didn't understand a word of what the radiation signal had said but rather took his word for it, "Beaming into space,"

"Sale of the century," the Slitheen walked forward, her face aglow with the excitement of destroying the Earth, "We reduce the Earth to molten slag, and then sell it, piece by piece," I shuddered slightly, "Radioactive chunks, capable of powering every cut price starliner and budget cargo ship. There's a recession out there, Doctor, people are selling cheap," she laughed and I stared at her, "This rock becomes raw fuel,"

"At the cost of six billion lives," I told her, walking forward, "There are people that live here as well. You just don't care that you'll be committing genocide on people that haven't done anything to you or your family? You'll just go ahead and do it?" she shrugged, clearly not bothered, "I know most of us can be annoying but I think that six billion people would have something to say about you trying to kill all of us," I folded my arms, "You can just pass over the amount of people dead?"

"It's a bargain," she said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Then I give you a choice," the Doctor said very calmly, almost still, "Leave this planet, or I will stop you," the Slitheen all laughed, "You think I'm joking but if you don't leave this planet with it intact then I will stop you, and I get rid of you," he sounded furious.

The female Slitheen moved forward, "What?" she asked, still laughing, "You? Trapped in your box?" the idea probably seemed ludicrous when looking at the situation without knowing what the Doctor could do; the man that probably had driven hundreds of aliens away from invading this planet. Yes, I suppose it would seem funny to someone who hadn't seen that before.

But then they didn't know who the Doctor was. So the Slitheen probably didn't fully understand it when he said, "Yes, me," to them in the middle of Downing Street, pressing the shutter button and closing the hatch up again. But Rose and I knew different, that they weren't going to be able to carry out their plan of destroying the Earth, purely and simply because we knew what the Doctor could do.

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**So we're officially about half way through the adventure. Only two more to go.**

**See you next time. **


	24. World War Three: Part 4

**Just posting this before I head off out to work. Thank you to everyone that reviewed last chapter, as always I'm immensely grateful.**

**Oh and we made it passed sixty reviews :-) So that's an extra big thank you. **

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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World War Three: Part 4

So this plan of getting out of here was going to take a while.

Three hours later and we were nowhere. The doors were still bonded shut by the steel, the Slitheen were still plotting and waiting for the United Nations to release the nuclear access codes, and we were still trapped, without a way to get outside the door. And the guards still didn't realise that the acting Prime Minister, the MI5 woman and the General were all aliens from another world. And they weren't likely to believe us any time soon. I wouldn't believe it if the situation hadn't been staring me straight in the face.

The phone crackled, and Mum's voice came on the line, "All right Doctor," she told the man that had been standing by one of the doors for nearly two hours now, "I'm not saying that I trust you, but there has to be something that you can do," he was merely silent. We had been getting Mickey to try and phone as many emergency help lines as possible, in the hopes of getting through to at least one. But apparently the whole world seemed to have stopped without anyone answering the phones. I suppose the appearance of an alien threat meant that everyone was just at home, watching to see what would happen next.

"We could..." I sighed, running a hand through my hair in agitation, having gone around the situation about a thousand times in my head, "We could get Mum and Mickey to go and buy all the vinegar that they could find in the shops, get them to come over here and fight their way through the Slitheen by chucking the stuff over them," I proposed, and they all looked at me. I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, they'd never be able to get inside the gates before the police managed to pick them up. Ignore that idea, it's not worth it,"

Rose leaned on the table, "We can't get anything to go from here to the outside world," she told us, "So the only way is to get someone to come to us to get us out without. If we managed to get some vinegar then we'd be laughing right now instead of sitting here without any ideas,"

I turned around to look at the Doctor, "There have to be organisations that deal with this type of thing all the time," I said to him, and he looked over to me, "I don't mean human authorities," I added, just in case he mentioned the experts that were dead downstairs, "I mean alien organisations that are like, I don't know, intergalactic police?" I thought back, "The first time I met you, you said to the Nestene Consciousness about the Shadow Proclamation. Can't they come and help us, see what's going on and arrest the Slitheen. Or are they allowed to wipe out the entire planet?"

"The Shadow Proclamation have police at their disposal but there's no way of getting a signal out to alert them to what's happening right here, right now," he answered and I nodded, understanding, "Also even if they did know they wouldn't get here in time to stop the Slitheen from burning the planet to a barren wasteland,"

"If we ferment the port then we could make ascetic acid," Harriet inputted, holding up the bottle of the almost empty bottle that had been getting less and less as time went by, "Perhaps not, I doubt we could take out one Slitheen with the amount we'd get,"

"I suppose it depends on the one that we'd get," Rose replied, walking around the room, "We could get one, maybe duck around two more to get to the exit. They might get distracted by the explosion of the other one," she looked towards the phone on the table, "Mickey, have you had any luck with trying those emergency help lines yet?

The phone made a clicking noise when Mum passed it to Rose's boyfriend, "I've been trying hundreds of these things, but it keeps going to voicemail," I flung myself into the chair in exasperation, "I don't think anyone is in work. I haven't seen anyone walking outside or even passed the flat. Probably waiting until the UN have decided whether to release the nuclear codes,"

I placed my head in my hands, "If only we could get the hell out of here," I snapped, and caught Rose's look, my annoyance with the whole world disappearing, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I told her, bending my head, "I'm hungry, need the toilet, and have been staring at steel doors all night, drinking only really disgusting port. But I still would like to get out of here as fast as we can, preferably not dying in the process. That would be nice," I stood up, walking around the room, "There has to be some way of getting out of here and stopping the Slitheen,"

"There's a way," the Doctor spoke so quietly that I might have missed if I had been on the other side of the room. At his words, I turned to look at him, along with Harriet and Rose, "There's always been a way out," what he was saying as said so distantly it made me think that he was speaking to himself rather to any of us.

"Then why can't we use it?" Rose asked him, and he looked away, not answering her question, and I knew that it wasn't going to be good, "Doctor, why can't we use it. If it's the only way that we can get out of here then we should use it," he was still silent, "Why not?"

The Doctor moved to look at the speakerphone, "Because I can't promise that either of your daughters will be safe," Mum immediately protested at that, "That's the thing, Jackie, if I don't dare to do it then everyone in the world dies. Not just in this country but the whole world,"

I moved to stand next to the Doctor, "Do it," I told him, and he looked at me, silent pain etched on his face. I didn't pretend to understand why that was, but I slipped my hand through his, "Whatever you need to do, you should do it. You need to stop them,"

He searched my face, looking for something, "You wouldn't care what I would do. You don't even know what I could do and you'd let me," I nodded slowly, "What I could do...you don't even know what it is," I looked down, "Why?"

"Yeah, I'd let you," I admitted, looking at him, "Why?" I smiled softly, "Because I trust you. I trust you to do what you think you should do to stop the Slitheen from killing every living thing on this world, and selling pieces of it. So of course I would let you,"

Mum was still protesting on the other end of the phone, "Oh please though, Doctor," she pleaded with him, "Please, they're my daughters. Alice is just a kid; both of them are so young. You can't even promise that they're going to be safe with you. I'm begging you, don't do this,"

He looked down towards the phone, "Do you think that I don't know that?" he asked her, suddenly furious at her for highlighting that to him, "Of course I know. But this is my life, Jackie, it's not smart, it's not clever. It's just standing up and making a decision for everyone else but no one else will do it,"

"Then what are you waiting for?" I questioned and he turned to look at me. I was next to him, leaning on the table, and looking up at him, "Ignore Mum, what she says doesn't matter at the moment. This is the future of the world we're talking about. It's not like we've not been in danger before, is it? We've faced robotic spiders and ghosts, and we've been in danger when we were there. What makes this time so different from all the rest? What are you waiting for? Do it,"

"I could save the world but loose you," he told me, and I stared up at him. This strange and lonely man was hesitating to save the world because there was a possibility that I could die? I had known him only a few days in my whole life, but in that short amount of time, I trusted him absolutely. He made me laugh, he made me blush, and made me feel alive, but I hadn't thought that he had been similarly affected by being with me. And for him to even hesitate? He hadn't hesitated any of the times before, but this imminent danger, the only plan that he could think of clearly increased our chances of perishing. And I knew that whatever happened after this would surely affect whatever friendship we had. Whether it was for the good or the bad.

I was just about to reply to him when suddenly Harriet's voice cut through whatever I was about to say to him, "Except it isn't your decision, Doctor," she informed him, "It's mine," from Mum's indignant retort on the other end of the phone, containing who exactly Harriet was, it sounded like she didn't think much of the other woman, "I'm Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North," she told Mum, "The only elected representative in this room. Chosen by the people, for the people, and on behalf of the people, I command you. Do it,"

I smiled up at the Doctor, glad that the decision had been taken out of the Doctor's hands for once, "Well, I think you've got your answer, Doctor," I told him, and he looked down at me. I shrugged, "Everyone dies eventually. And yes, this is dangerous, but so can a cold, or a flight of stairs. And besides, I would say that the percentage of us winding up dead during getting into trouble is incredibly low," he grinned at me, "Now, you said something about a plan. How exactly are we going to get out of here?"

He quickly grabbed the red box, pulling it towards him and riffling through the files that were in there, "We're not getting out of here," he answered me, "We're staying here," he found a file, "We're going to send something to get us out and save the world in the process. Jackie, put Mickey on the phone,"

"I'm here," Mickey come onto the phone, "What do you need for me to do?" I was glad that he had decided to bypass questioning why he should need to do anything for the Doctor. Mickey seemed to understand that this was a matter of national security.

"I need you to hack into the Royal Navy," the Doctor announced calmly to him and we all looked at him. He was going to send a ship to us? "We're going to send a missile to Downing Street; it'll blow the Slitheen up, and make sure that they won't detonate any nuclear weapons. So you need to do this,"

"Brilliant," Rose said, and I nodded my agreement, "One problem, what should we do about the people outside. The reporters and security guards that are stationed outside Downing Street,"

"The guards downstairs should be able to track the missile, and get out of the way. This is the most high security building in the country. They will be able to see the missile as it enters London," replied the Doctor, briskly, preferring to not dwell on that fact. He looked over all the files, "Mickey, you need to use the Buffalo password, it overrides everything,"

"We're in," Mickey informed us, "HMS Taurean, Trafalgar Class submarine, ten miles off the coast of Plymouth," I ran a hand through my hair, hearing him speak. We had to work quickly, any minute now the United Nations could release the nuclear codes, and we had to get there before they did, "We can't go nuclear, we don't have the access codes,"

"Hate to interrupt, but I'm rather glad we don't have the codes if we're choosing a missile to send to Downing Street," I said, leaning on the fireplace, "I don't particularly want to be vaporised alongside half of London. The prospect of being hit by a regular missile is plenty enough. And an ordinary missile is just what we need. What's the first category?"

"Sub Harpoon UGM-84A," Mickey read out.

The Doctor nodded, "That's the one! Select it," there was a muffled voice in the background, and I sighed, frustrated at what was probably Mum's last intervention. Rose seemed to be thinking the same as me, as she squeezed my shoulder, both reassuring herself and me that Mum wouldn't stand in the way of this, "Ready for this?" There was a long silence, and I held my breath, hoping beyond hope that Mum would back down to this. Finally Mickey replied in the affirmative and the Doctor straightened up, "Mickey the Idiot, the world is in your hands. Fire,"

There was an audible swallow on the other end, "I've done it," Mickey told us, and we all let out a breath. One problem would be sorted out although that had created a new problem, "The missile is heading towards you, and the Slitheen. Should reach you in less than ten minutes, if it doesn't fail in mid-flight,"

"So we just have to survive a missile," I quipped lightly, before looking around the room, "Doctor, these walls won't survive a missile being launched at them, am I right?" he nodded, "Ok, so we find another way of not getting ourselves killed by the incoming missile," I tapped the table, "Now I'm going to make the decision about what happened, we're not going to die here," I opened the cupboard that the two bodies were stored in, "So I've been thinking about how to survive an earthquake, Rose what did they say on that documentary?"

"You can survive them by standing under a doorframe!" she answered and I grinned, "So that cupboard is small, so it's strong," she ran inside, pulling out the two dead men to create more room, "Come and help me," I move next to her, pulling out the two men, "Come on, Harriet!"

We pulled everything out of that closet, from dead bodies to books on policy making, eventually making it completely empty. When the missile did hit the building then we didn't want anything to fall on top of us and knock us out. Mickey had managed to stop the actual Royal Navy from intercepting the missile, which when thought about, was actually quite worrying, if anyone else had managed to hack into the Royal Navy and sent a missile then the authorities weren't exactly able to stop them or take back control.

"It should be there in about thirty seconds!" Mickey told us.

"Right everyone into the cupboard!" Harriet called, and we ran inside, shutting the door. We sat on the floor, all holding hands, bracing ourselves for the eventual collision, "Nice meeting you," she added, before looking up, "Hannibal!"

The world seemed to explode beneath us, as the missile hit the building, the ground shifting violently. I closed my eyes tightly, before the world suddenly tilted, the room falling over and over, with us inside landing on the ceiling. It was over in about a minute but it seemed to go on forever. When the explosion seemed to have stopped, I opened my eyes, looking around. I immediately met the Doctor's, "Oh..." I said to him, "I seem to have landed on you. Are you all right?"

"I should be," he replied, "Takes a lot more than one person falling on me to do serious damage," I stood up slowly, "Rose...Harriet?" he called, "Are you all right?"

"Yeah," Rose called back, and I saw her stand up with Harriet, "We're fine, Harriet's fine," she grinned, "And we're all alive, there's something for you," we all picked our way out through the Cabinet Room, now looking slightly worse for wear, "I tell you, these past couple of days haven't exactly been kind on London's landmarks. Big Ben's been half destroyed, and now Downing Street looks like a bomb site. I don't envy whoever's job it is to sort it all out,"

We pushed open the shutters, the metal having come off its hinges and slamming to the ground. Stepping out into the sunlight, I looked around to where we were. Downing Street was completely destroyed; there wasn't a single standing part of it left. Oh dear. This was going to be hard to explain to the security guard that was currently running towards us. But Harriet calmly stepped up to him, showing her ID card, "Harriet Jones, MP for Flydale North, you must contact the UN immediately, tell the ambassadors, the crisis has passed, they can step down," the man seemed hesitant, "Tell them!" he ran off, and she looked over at us, "Someone's got a hell of a job, sorting this lot out," she seemed to remember something, "Good Lord, we haven't even got a Prime Minister!"

"Maybe you should have a go," the Doctor proposed, and Harriet looked sceptical at him.

"Now don't be silly," she told him, before looking over to the news reporters that were stationed at the end of the road, "Look, I'd better go and help," she started to walk over the uneven ground, "Hold on," we watched as she walked over to them, "We're safe, the Earth is safe!" she called out loudly, and I smiled slightly.

"I thought I knew the name," the Doctor informed us as we walked towards the street, "Harriet Jones, future Prime Minister of Great Britain," my hand was held tightly in his as we watched Harriet, "Elected for three successive terms, the architect of Britain's Golden Age," he grinned, "Fantastic," I smiled at his happiness before a cold feeling crept over me, making me shiver, "What are you thinking about?"

I looked at him, "Oh..." I shrugged, "Nothing much," we turned to go, but I looked back at Harriet, frowning slightly, "I think we'll her again, you know," I remarked, "The world isn't that big,"

* * *

**So only the last part of World War Three is left, seeing as I'm going on holiday tomorrow morning, it will be up whenever I get an internet connection. So fingers crossed.**

**See you soon**


	25. World War Three: Part 5

**Ever had that one really bad flight, which Is worse than any other flight possible? Well that was me with a flight that was ten hours delayed because they forgot to send the plane. Still I'm here now which is all good, with the final chapter of World War Three. Thank you to all those that reviewed, grapejuice101, fanfreak4ever, thegirlwhoimagined, and the mysterious M.**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not belong to me**

* * *

World War Three: Part Five

As soon as we got back home into the Powell Estate, I immediately went upstairs to pick up my bag from my flat. I looked around the rooms. It was a good flat, even if I had I only lived in it for a few months before disappearing for a year. It could have even become home if I had been there for longer. However ever since I had stepped into the TARDIS that spot had quickly been taken and the flat where I used to live was just another flat, stripped of everything that had made it personal to me.

Dragging my bag outside, I took one final look inside, before shutting the front door firmly, locking it up. As they said, a door once closed always opens another, and the shutting of this door meant that the TARDIS was open. And I had always preferred blue to yellow. Everything that I owned was now packed away in the bag at my feet. That was a little sad as well, everything that I owned fit into one suitcase, albeit a rather large suitcase. Well at least it meant that I didn't have to return for a repeat journey. That would have been more trouble than it was really worth.

Halfway down the flight of stairs, my phone suddenly rang. I pulled it out, looking at the Caller ID, frowning when there was a little picture of the TARDIS on it. I pressed the answer button, holding it up to my ear, "You've got a phone?" I asked him, starting to walk down the stairs again.

"Nine hundred years of time and space travel and you don't think I've got a phone?" the Doctor's voice echoed in my ear, "Shame on you, of course I've got a phone in here. It is a telephone box after all," I hummed lightly in agreement, "I've just got to send out this dispersal, it's cancelling out the Slitheen's advert just in case of any bargain hunters turn up. It'll take a couple of hours and then we can go,"

"I'm just coming down the stairs so I'll be about three minutes," I told him, "I think Rose is still with Mum," I reached the bottom on the stairs, "See you in a second," I clicked the phone off, before picking up the suitcase and wheeling it over to the TARDIS. I pulled out the TARDIS key, quickly unlocking it, pulling my bag with me, "So the last time I went travelling with you," I called over to the Doctor, "There wasn't any time to properly get anything. Now I think I've probably got everything that I could possibly want," I looked down at my bag, "Where exactly do I put this? Do you have a cloakroom or something?"

"Cloakroom?" he asked, "You're staying here long term now, you get a room," I raised my eyebrows in surprise. He sighed, pointing towards the doorway, "Go down there and you'll find a door that'll have your name on it. Shouldn't be too far from this room, the TARDIS likes to keep them close. Either way when you find your name then that's your room,"

"I have a room?" I inquired and he nodded, "I'll be back in a bit," I picked up my suitcase, heading through the doorway, looking at the different doors that lined the corridor. Finally I found my name etched onto one, and I opened it up. I smiled at the room that was inside it. It was bright blue, with yellow stars painted on the ceiling. A bed was placed in one corner of the room, desk in another with a wardrobe standing next to it. There also was an empty bookshelf which I knew would come in handy to put anything on let alone books. It was fairly large for just one person, but I could get used to it very easily, it was perfect for someone like me.

Placing my bag on my bed, I quickly placed all my clothes in the wardrobe, the books on the bookshelf and my laptop on the desk, plugged into what seemed like a normal plug socket. I didn't know whether the TARDIS ran on electricity, or even had electricity, but the laptop seemed to be charging in any case. Shoving my now empty suitcase under the bed, I grabbed my diary, and a pen, before walking out of my room, and heading back down to the TARDIS control room, starting to write down everything that had happened in the past week.

"All done?" the Doctor asked, and I nodded, distractedly as I continue to fill up the pages of my diary, "I've just rung Rose so she'll be ready when we leave, if she decides to come. Like I said earlier, we'll be a couple of hours before we can get the TARDIS going again. How was your room?"

"Perfect," I answered, looking up, "No really, everything was perfect. Did the TARDIS get into my head and figure out what I liked in a bedroom?" he nodded, tapping on the console, "Right, so where are we going first, after you've sent off your dispersal to tell everyone not to come to Earth? Which planet?"

"The Horsehead Nebula," he replied, "There's a plasma storm that is brewing there. Ten million miles wide, there are fires burning, and I am going to ride the TARDIS right into the centre of it, before riding the shock wave all the way out. We could end up absolutely anywhere in the whole of the universe," I grinned at that, "Does that sound like a good plan?"

"Your good plans usually turn out for the best," I told him, "That sounds fun. We've just got to wait a couple of hours," I looked at him speculatively, there was a lot that we needed to talk about and I knew that he would only be distracted if we were in here until it was time to head off to the Horsehead Nebula, "Hungry?" I questioned lightly.

"Starving," he responded, before turning towards me, his eyes narrowed slightly. I smiled innocently, closing the diary and storing it in my pocket, "There's a kitchen in the TARDIS," he added, quickly, "And Rose told me that your mother was thinking about cooking for all of us,"

"Mum wants to cook?" I raised my eyebrows, "I didn't think you did that type of thing," he folded his arms, "It's my last night on Earth in London for what will, I hope, be quite a while," I informed him, "I have the rest of my life to eat in the TARDIS Kitchen, not that I have anything against the TARDIS's kitchen," I looked up at the ceiling, "I'm sure that it's a very nice kitchen. But we have a while to kill, and as both you and me are hungry, it might be an idea to go outside. I have just enough money, so you don't have to pay," I walked towards the door, "So are you coming or am I going to eat all on my lonesome?"

I stepped outside, looking up at the block of flats, and leaning against the TARDIS. Sure enough the Doctor came out a minute later shrugging on his coat, "Right, seeing as you're the one determined to not eat in the TARDIS then you can choose where we go," he said to me, before adding, "Chips are good,"

"Then we'll go to a chip shop," I told him, walking in the right direction, "There's one not too far away, and it's not exactly expensive,"

* * *

Half an hour later found us sitting in the chip shop, eating chips in one of the plastic booths. At this moment I was just mechanically eating the chips, not really tasting it properly, and from looking at the Doctor it seemed the same, "I know the real reason why you wanted to eat outside the TARDIS," he finally broke the silence that had descended on us around ten minutes ago, "It's about what happened in Downing Street, isn't it?" I sighed, throwing the chip into the box and looking at him, "You thought that the TARDIS would have too many distractions for me to try and avoid your questions,"

"Which to be honest is a very valid reason," I retorted, leaning back in my chair, "I might not know you completely but I know enough of people to know that they can find something to distract them from questions. And the TARDIS is one place where you could find an infinite amount of things to distract you, and the chip shop has hardly any so I thought that I would have been a good place to come and talk properly without Rose here to complicate matters, when I need to talk to you without her,"

He sighed, nodding, "Fire away then," he offered, and I traced a pattern on the plastic surface of the table, "It was about Downing Street, wasn't it?"

"Yes," I said slowly, "And I thought that we could get on the same page as it were," I was terrible at this, really I was, the last time that I talk to someone about something this personal, well they didn't take it too well. She didn't take it too well, "I trust you with my life," I started, "And that's rather new for me. I don't trust anyone really, apart from Rose," I retraced the pattern, "So I don't really know where we go from here,"

"Where do you want to go from here?" he asked and I shot him a look, "You shouldn't trust me, Mary-Anne, not with your life. Like I told your mother, this is my life, running into trouble head first, without looking back, always moving on," he swallowed, "My life is dangerous and any moment someone could get killed, people got killed today and one day it might just be you and it would be my fault. I wouldn't forgive myself if that ever happened,"

"I'm not pretending that there is no chance that I won't die," I informed him, "But I think that everyday there is a chance I could get killed," I saw his face, "I know it's not the same, because getting killed by crossing the road would be by accident. But I think I would rather die trying to save something, than die by accident, because then there would be a point to it," he didn't look reassured, "I promise that I won't try and get myself killed," I tilted my head a little, looking at him, "In Downing Street, you hesitated about that missile," I said slowly, "And you said that it was because you could..."

"Lose you," he finished, and I nodded, "I wasn't lying," he carried on, "I really wasn't," I looked down, "You're important,"

"Doctor," I said, "I'm really not, I'm no one," I clasped my hands together, "I'm a shop girl from the East End of London. I don't have any qualifications that get me anywhere, I got kicked out of school at age sixteen and my life before you wasn't going anywhere. My friends before you, numbered all of one and that was my sister," I laughed slightly, "I'm the most ordinary girl in the whole of creation, why would hesitate over me,"

"Oh Mary-Anne, you're the most important person in the whole of creation," he told me, "You're certainly not ordinary, not by a long shot. You've helped saved the world three times, and a space station, not anyone can do that," I looked sceptically at him, and he took my hands in his. All the times that he had taken my hand when we were running for our lives I had never really considered what his hands felt like, there had always been something else to distract me. Now I studied them carefully. They were rough hands, certainly not soft, large but also warm. I blushed slightly, when I realised that I had been silent for a while, only running my fingers over his palms. I made to drop them but he gripped mine carefully, "And you know in nine hundred years, I've never met anyone who has been no one,"

I smiled shyly at him, "Well, perhaps," I replied, "Maybe. But I still trust you with my life," I pressed my thumbs into his palms lightly, "Nine hundred years and you're still alive," his brow furrowed at that, "Not a bad rate really. I think if anywhere is safe, then the Doctor in the TARDIS is a pretty good bet," I but my bottom lip, "You know, before you my life was so dull, and then you dropped down in that little blue box of yours and everything seemed to have...colour,"

He smilies, "Nine hundred years, I still get surprised by humans," he answered, "I thought I'd seen it all, everything from the mountains of Appalapachia to the Egyptian pyramids being built. I thought that I'd had enough of saving the human race years ago, but I'm finding that saving the world is just the beginning. The world has colour," we both grinned at each other, coming to some unspoken agreement, "So what happens now?"

"Do I look like I know what to do?" I laughed, "I've never done this before. Take it as it comes, I suppose," I smiled at him, "Get into the TARDIS, travel around a bit, see the universe and get into trouble. That sounds like a plan of some sorts. We could go anywhere,"

"Anywhere at all," he finished, and we exited the chip shop, "So in all of time and space, where would you choose?" I tilted my head to one side, "I can take you to the Charge of the Light Brigade, anti-gravity skateboarding on Delta 7 in the year six hundred thousand," I smiled, watching him talk, "Anywhere in time and space, your choice. Back and forward," he looked down at me, "How far would you go with me?"

"Oh," I looked thoughtfull, "All the way to the end of universe, and back again," I replied to him, "Right out to the very edges, or right to the very end of time. How ever many years in the future that is," I looked up at the darkening sky, "And tomorrow we could be standing under a bright orange sky, in a place with three moons, and that..." I sighed, "You're amazing, you know?"

"Me?" he scoffed, "I'm a man with a little blue box, which I borrowed for a while. In what way does that make me amazing?" I looked at him as if he were insane, "You humans, you're the amazing ones," we walked past the few shops near the estate, "I mean the majority of you are completely thick. You walk by things that are completely out of the ordinary, and you keep going, don't stop to ever question what is right in front of you," he stopped and turned to me, "But then there are others, people that you think that are all the rest, but then they do something, something little, something so tiny that suddenly everything changes. What you thought before didn't matter, because everything has changed," I looked in his eyes, a startling blue, "Suddenly you start seeing the world in colour," he cupped my face in his hands, "You are amazing," he pressed a light kiss to my forehead, "Now, we have a graffiti artist to catch, and a sister to wait for," I let a bewildered laugh as he suddenly started running, pulling me along with him, "Time stops for no one!"

* * *

We managed to catch the person who had decided to graffiti the words: BAD WOLF on the side of the TARDIS. He was only about twelve, but he knew he was in trouble the moment he saw the Doctor. The TARDIS camera was easily able to spot who had committed the deed. The Doctor wasn't too hard on the boy, only making him scrub the words off with soap and water which took the boy a couple of hours at least. Scrubbing dry paint off wood was difficult even at the best of times, so I didn't envy the boy.

It was dark when Mickey, having changed out of his slime covered clothes, came to sit outside the TARDIS, reading the newspaper. The boy had finished scrubbing the graffiti off the side, so the Doctor stuck hi head out of the door, looking around to where the boy was, inspecting the work, "Good lad," he congratulated the boy, "Now if I catch you graffiting that again, I'll have you," he jerked his head roughly, "Now beat it,"

The boy didn't waste any time, dropping the scrubbing brush into the soapy bucket, picking it up, before sprinting off. We both crossed over to Mickey who was clearly bursting with an unanswered question, "So I just went down the shop," he started nervously, "And I was thinking, you know, like the whole world's changed. Aliens and spaceships all in public. And here it is," he held up the paper which on the headline was the worlds: ALIEN HOAX, "I mean, how could they do it?" Mickey burst out, "I mean they saw it!"

The Doctor shrugged, "They're just not ready," he explained, simply, "You're happy to believe in something that's invisible, but if it's staring you in the face - nope! Can't see it!" he looked pointedly at the man in front of him, "There's a scientific explanation for that. You're thick,"

Mickey laughed slightly reluctantly, "We're just idiots," he confessed, and I rolled my eyes.

"Well not all of you," the Doctor admitted, and I raised my eyebrows at him. Now who had clearly had a change of heart? "Oh...shush," he told me, "Mickey the Idiot saved the world, it's not every day that I'm forced to eat my words," he dug through his pockets, "But here's a present for you," he handed over a disc, "That's a virus. Put it online, it'll destroy every mention of me. I'll cease to exist," Mickey frowned, "It's because you're right, I am dangerous, And I don't want anyone to follow me,"

"How can you say that?" Mickey asked, looking over to where Mum and Rose had just entered the courtyard, "How can you say that and then take both of them with you?" he looked at me, "You could die out there, Alice, and so could Rose. You're not safe if you go with him, and there wouldn't be any way that you could get me for help,"

"My choice," I answered him, bluntly, "Besides, I've tried to live a life where nothing really happened, and it was...boring," I looked up at the TARDIS, "Trouble makes you think on the more important things in life, and I couldn't ,it's that for the world, not this world at any rate. I'm staying with the Doctor. Whatever Rose decides to do is her choice, I'm not making her come with me, and I'm not making her stay,"

"You could come with us," the Doctor suddenly proposed, and I looked around at him quickly. Now the world really had changed, twenty four hours earlier and the Doctor would have never asked Mickey to come with us, "You could protect her and make sure that she was safe. You could come with us,"

Mickey shook his head rapidly, "I couldn't," he confessed, "This life of yours...it's just too much. I couldn't do it," I knew that it would have taken a lot out of him to admit that to the Doctor, let alone with me standing right by. But I had found out that Mickey wasn't so bad. He actually was quite useful in a crisis. I had been wrong, but it was a nice thing to be wrong about, and I guess that without the Doctor and World War Three almost happening, I still would have thought of Mickey as an idiot, "Don't tell Rose that I said that," the Doctor and I both nodded quickly.

I turned towards where Mum and Rose was coming closer. Mum was babbling rapidly to arose, begging her not to leave in the TARDIS, "I'll get a real job," she promised, "I'll work weekends, I'll pass my test and if Jim comes round again, I'll tell him no, I really will,"

"Mum," Rose smiled at her, on her back was a large bag that was no doubt filled with clothes, "I'm just going travelling, that's all. And then we'll come back. That's all. Just travelling, loads of people do it, and you can call me any time you want so it's not like we're going forever. Be back before you know it, so there's nothing to worry about, and if you saw it out there, you wouldn't be able to stay home either," she handed the Doctor her bag, "Last time we stepped in there," she nodded to the TARDIS, "It was spur of the moment. Now we're signing up, you're stuck with us, hah!" she looked at Mickey, "Come with us. There's plenty of room,"

Mickey gestured to the Doctor and the man merely tightened his arms around the bag filled with clothes, "No chance, he's ah, a liability," he said bluntly, and I hid a smile behind my bag, he was a very good actor, "I'm not having him on board," Rose looked ready to protest, "My decision is final," he added and Mickey shot him a grateful look from where Rose couldn't see.

She turned back to him, "Sorry," she apologised and he waved it off slightly, before kissing her, "I'll see you around," she told him, "All right?" he nodded, "I will see you soon,"

Mum rounded on the Doctor, "You still can't promise me," she aid to him, "What if they get lost? What if something happens to you, Doctor, and they're left all alone standing on some moon a million light years away - how long do I wait then?" she demanded, and the Doctor didn't answer her. She turned to me instead, "Alice, please, don't do this to me,"

I looked away, "Everyone leaves home someday," I answered her and she let out a faint scream of frustration, "I don't promise that it won't be dangerous, but we'll be all right, we'll both be absolutely fine. You'll see,"

Of course she wasn't convinced by me, so she turned to look at Rose, "Mum..." Rose said patiently, "You're forgetting - it's a time machine. We could go travelling around suns and planets and all the way out to the edge of the universe and by the time we get back," she held onto Mum's hands, "Ten seconds would have passed. Just ten seconds. So stop worrying," I moved into the TARDIS, standing next to the Doctor, hearing Rose's parting words of, "See you in ten seconds time,"

"So," I asked, pulling down the lever that the Doctor pointed me to, as Rose ran up to the console, "The whole of time and space, anywhere that we can go," he grinned at me, turning a dial, "And I seem to remember something about a plasma storm, and riding the shockwave to end up anywhere," the console whirred with energy as we fly through the Time Vortex, "Surprise us,"

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**So 'Dalek' is next, and I really like that episode so await the next chapter. See you soon**


	26. Dalek: Part 1

**I'm back from my holiday and with the next chapter. Hooray. Holiday was fun, if we discount the multitude of mosquitoes that seem to have decided I would be a nice lunch.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Dalek: Part 1

"So we are going to see planets that have never been seen before," the Doctor was rushing around the console, "Stars that haven't even been born yet, walk on beaches where there is no one else for a million miles," I clung onto the side of the TARDIS holding on for dear life as she hurtled around the Time Vortex, "We could go to the age of the Dinosaurs, meet Attila the Hun, or Jane Austen," he grimaced a little, "Perhaps not the last one, but still..." he grinned widely, "So much to see, so much to do..." the TARDIS landed with a loud thud, "And I tell you that it's going to be absolutely fantastic," I moved towards the doors, "So..."

I stuck my head out of the door, seeing only a darkened corridor, "Well it could do with a little decoration," I called back and he frowned, "So much for stars, Doctor, just looks like a corridor," I shut the door as he moved to tap on the screen. Rose was sitting nearby on the seat, "Something wrong is it?" I inquired, walking up towards the console.

It had been three days since we had left Mum and Mickey at the Powell Estate in the twenty-first century, and it had taken three days just to navigate the TARDIS. So far I had found: a swimming pool, three squash courts, four different kitchens of various shapes and sizes, a library, another console room, seven rooms which contained medical equipment, and eleven living rooms. However the main console room, in which we were all standing in at this point in time, never seemed to be further than a corridor away. Clearly the TARDIS could move rooms around while we were inside them, which made me feel a little queasy when I thought about it. The corridors seemed to stretch on forever, and I doubted that I would ever manage to see all of the room inside.

There was a reason to why exactly we had been trapped inside the TARDIS for three days, when there had been mention of going to the Horsehead Nebula, and then ending up anywhere in the whole of time and space. To put it plainly, the TARDIS had broken something very important and the Doctor had spent three days trying to fix it. I didn't want to think on the fact that we were inside a spaceship that was rather prone to being fixed. What if there was something that broke that meant that all the air was sucked out of the TARDIS? Even though the Doctor had assured me that exact situation was highly unlikely, I still didn't like to dwell on it too often.

Nevertheless, it had been fixed, and we had landed in what looked like a brown corridor, "Well," Rose stood up from the seat, "There's no point hanging around here then is there?" the Doctor nodded, still deep in thought at whatever it was saying on the screen. For all that the TARDIS could translate, the symbols on the screen never changed to English, whether that was because the TARDIS couldn't or she wouldn't, remained to be seen, although it was more likely the latter of the two. The Doctor grabbed his jacket, striding out of the TARDIS with ease, "So what is it?" Rose pressed, "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," I emerged from the TARDIS as he said that, looking around the corridor that was still steeped in darkness, "It's some sort of signal, drawing the TARDIS off course. I was aiming for 1481...but something seemed to make the TARDIS change its destination,"

"Can something do that?" I asked and he nodded distantly. I resumed looking around the corridor again. There was a glass cabinet right in front of us, and I moved forward to study what was inside. It looked like a rather armoured snake, brown, with very sharp teeth. I moved back slightly, "So where are we exactly?" I inquired, "And when, preferably,"

"Earth," he answered, moving to look at the snake, "Utah, North America, about half a mile underground," well that would explain why it was so dark in here, and why there weren't any windows lighting up the place, "When?" he looked at his watch, "Two thousand and twelve, not so distant from your time,"

"God, that's so weird," Rose said, and I moved up the corridor, there had to be a light switch somewhere, "That's so close. I should be twenty six," she looked over to me, "You'd be twenty five," I grimaced slightly at her. Twenty five seemed so old. I had only just turned eighteen a few months ago.

I finally found the light switch, flicking it on. There was a low hum as a light blared above us, showing a long hallway, filled with different glass cabinets like the one that had held that snakelike creature. I stared at the cabinet that was in front of me, it held an object shaped as a dial. This was nothing like any museum that I had been to, "It's like a museum," I said and the Doctor nodded, "Odd museum, I mean," I moved onto the next one, it was a huge lump of rock, "These things have nothing in common with each other,"

"Yes they do," I turned towards the Doctor, "It's an alien museum. Someone's got a hobby," I craned my neck, seeing that the corridor bent around the corner with more cabinets lining the walls, "They must have paid a fortune to collect all this," he moved next to me, looking at the rock, "Chunks of meteorite. Moon dust," he pointed at the dial that I had previously studied, "That's the milometer from the Roswell spaceship, now that would have cost a lot to buy,"

I moved onto the next cabinet before stepping back at what was in it, "That's a bit of a Slitheen!" Rose pointed out, and I moved quickly onwards. We had seen those sharp talons quite close up and even though this arm was clearly detached from its owner, I wasn't ready to be too close, "That's a Slitheen's arm," my sister repeated, staring at it, "Someone got a Slitheen, chopped its arm off and then stuffed it!"

"Oh look at you!" the Doctor's voice interrupted what I was about to say to her, and I moved to look at the glass cabinet that he was standing in front of. It was a square helmet, but the eye holes looked to be filled in. It was a metallic silver with what looked like handlebars where the ears should have been, "Mary-Anne, this is an old friend of mine," he chuckled slightly, "Well, old enemy. The stuff of nightmares," he gripped my hand tightly, "And now it's reduced to an exhibit. I'm getting old,"

"Do you think?" I started, before swallowing, "Do you think that the signal came from there?" I nodded to the helmet that seemed to make the Doctor remember something that happened so long ago, "I mean it could be transmitting something, got inside the TARDIS,"

He shook his head, "No," he dismissed, "That thing is stone dead, it couldn't transmit enough to connect to a phone let enough inside the TARDIS," he stared at the helmet, deep in thought, "The thing that sent the signal is alive. Something reaching out and pulling us in," I couldn't help but shiver at that, "Calling us in,"

He placed a hand on the glass case and immediately alarm sounded all around us. There was the familiar thud of heavy boots heading towards us and all so soon men in camouflage were surrounding us, aiming guns towards us, shouting orders of surrender. We all placed our hands us, even if I did it reluctantly, "Why is it with you that we always end up having the army come and aim guns at us?" I asked the Doctor who grinned at me, "I wouldn't look so smug, someone here likes collecting alien stuff. That makes you Exhibit A," he didn't drop the smile, "I hate you,"

"No, you don't," he replied as men closed in around us, pushing us to start moving in a certain direction. I smiled at him, as we walked along, "Odd place to have a museum though, if you think about it. I mean," he frowned, "Why Utah?"

A cold shiver passed over me, and my hand tightened slightly over his. Why did Utah make me feel like someone was walking over my grave? There was nothing in Utah that would make me want to run and hide and yet, there was something in the back of my mind that told me that we would have been better off getting back into the TARDIS immediately and flying as far away as was remotely possible. Well, before we had been cornered by guards holding guns and holding us at gunpoint.

"Never mind Utah," Rose said, "Why bother burying a museum underground for half a mile?" that was a good question, "I mean, this museum was completely empty, do you think that the rest of the world knows about aliens now?"

"This is a private museum," the Doctor answered, "Only reason for being so underground like it is now. The only question is why they bothered putting the army in a place that has to be a private collection? That and Utah," I suddenly looked around, thinking that I had heard something scream, "Mary-Anne?" I shook it off, "Something the matter?"

"I thought I heard..." I started before shaking my head, "No, there's nothing," I continued walking, "So whatever the signal was that drew us out here is alien?" he nodded, "And we have to find whatever it is in an alien museum filled with lots and lots of different alien objects?" again he nodded, "This is going to be like looking for an alien needle in an alien haystack,"

The Doctor shrugged, "It won't be that difficult, we're probably getting taken to their leader," he looked at the armed men, "He can tell us what we're looking for, we go and see what's happening to the alien, sort it out, and we'll be off and looking at those stars again," I smiled at that, "All we have to do now is convince them to let us go, and that might take us a while, but everything will be fine in the end," we turned the corner onto another row of cabinets, "I have to say, whoever this person is, they do know their aliens," he pointed to a cabinet, "That's a space pod from one of the Isolus, and that..." he looked at another, "Well that's piece of spaceship, but the rest of it is impressive,"

A blonde woman walked towards us as we rounded yet another corner. How big was this place anyway, "Are these the intruders?" she asked and one of the men escorting us nodded sharply. She turned a cold look on us, "Do you want to tell me how you got into here without any of the cameras picking you up?" she had to be someone in charge, her whole personality so far seemed to be about control.

"Honest mistake," the Doctor grinned at her, "Just passing through, no harm done is there?" she didn't say anything, "Didn't realise this place was off limits, no signs to tell us otherwise,"

She folded her arms, "We're half a mile down in the middle of the Utah desert, and you say you just stumbled in without realising where you are?" she inquired and he nodded, still smiling, "We're going to see Mr Van Statten, follow me," she turned and walked back along the corridor.

"There's nothing like being escorted somewhere, is there?" Rose asked and I looked at her, shrugging, "I'm starting to think that this is going to become a habit with you," she told the Doctor, "Guns, army, people who are in charge. You're a magnet for trouble,"

"Oi," he answered, "I'm not a magnet for trouble; trouble finds me,"

We turned another corner and was escorted into a room where two people were huddled around a metal object, "And this is the last," a young man said to the person sitting in the chair. I figured that he would be the one that had the money to buy all the alien technology downstairs. He looked like someone who knew that they were rich and powerful. He even had the beard, "I paid eight hundred thousand for it," the speaker was a younger man, clearly a younger employee of some sorts. He was English, "You see these tubes on the sides? Must be to channel something, I think maybe fuel. I think it's part of a spaceship,"

"And it's unique?" the man in the big chair was asking. Now he was American, and his voice practically dripped arrogance. I decided that I didn't like him all too much, "It is, isn't it?" he looked at the employee with beady eyes as if trying to see whether he was lying or not, "The only one in the world?"

The Doctor snorted, and I looked at him. He was looking at the two men with the metal object with something akin to amusement, "I really wouldn't hold it like that," he informed them, and Rose and I shared a look. I didn't think that this ought to be a time to be showing off about how much alien knowledge one had when there were about five guns trained on us from the side and from the back, "Really though," he insisted, "It's wrong,"

"Why?" the younger man stood up folding his arms and looking at the Doctor with something like confusion, and a slight bit of concern. I could see that Rose was looking at him out of the corner of her eye, "Is it dangerous or something? Will it blow up if we turn it the wrong way?"

The Doctor snorted, "No," he said, his voice still saturated with amusement. There was something about that piece of metal that seemed to make him amused, "It just looks silly," he leaned forward, holding his hand out, and there was the click of several guns that were aimed at us. I tensed slightly, not particularly wanting to die in Utah, but the moment soon passed when the man in the chair passed the metal object over to the Doctor. Running his fingers over the metal, a beautiful eerie noise blossomed out of it, lights shining out of the tubes, "You just have to be very delicate," he informed us.

I leaned forward, looking over his shoulder at the object, "Is that a musical instrument?" I asked him, and he smiled, still playing the instrument, "That's beautiful,"

"And it's a long way from home," he told me, and the man in the desk held out his hand imperiously. The Doctor sighed, before handing it back to him, and the sounds that came out of the instrument when he tried to play it were discordant, jumbled, "I did say delicate," the Doctor informed him, "Careful now, it needs precision. It reacts to the smallest fingerprint," there were still jumbled noises coming from the instrument, "It needs precision," finally there was a clear note of music from the instrument and the Doctor smiled, "Very good, you're quite an expert,"

"Thank you," the man replied, "As are you evidently," he tossed the instrument aside lazily, and the Doctor frowned at the carelessly maltreatment that the man had just displayed. This man clearly didn't care about anything he owned, "Who exactly are you?"

The Doctor's face set into a frown, "I'm the Doctor," he told the man, "And I might ask you the same question,"

The man smiled, as if he didn't believe what the Doctor was telling him, "Oh like you don't know," he said to us, "We're hidden away, underneath the salt deserts of Utah, with the most valuable collection of extraterrestrial artefacts in the world, and you just stumbled in by mistake?"

I shrugged, "That pretty much sums us up," I informed him, "Probably the most apt description that you'll ever have pertaining to us. We got in here by mistake, didn't realise it was filled with alien objects, like a great big museum,"

"Question is," the man continued, "How did you get in? Fifty three doors down," he moved around the desk to stand in front of the Doctor, "With your little cat burglar accomplices," he looked at Rose, "Quite a collector yourself," he told the Doctor, "She's rather pretty," I didn't let myself get offended at his exclusion of me in his words. I wouldn't want to be attractive to him in a million years. Him liking Rose was completely fine with me.

Rose however didn't like the way that he thought she was attractive either, "She's going to smack you if you keep calling her 'she'," she told him roughly, glaring at him as he smiled at us, "You didn't give us an answer either. Who are you?"

"And they're English too," the man smiled as if it were the happiest day on Earth, "Hey, Little Lord Fauntleroy," he called back to the man behind him, "I've got you a pair of girlfriends," I didn't like the sound of that and from the tightening of the Doctor's hand around me, neither did he.

The English employee moved forward, "This is Mr Henry Van Statten," he said to us, and the Doctor, Rose and I all looked at him as if to communicate that we didn't know who Henry Van Statten was, and in my case, didn't care who Henry Van Statten was, "Mr Van Statten owns the Internet,"

I snorted with laughter, "Don't be stupid," I retorted, "Nobody owns the internet, it's a service providing you have the right equipment to hook up to it. Nobody owns it,"

Van Statten laughed proudly. I really didn't like him, "And let's just keep the whole world thinking that way, right kids?" he said and I raised my eyebrows. He was the archetypal rich person that you got in books. The proud, arrogant, vain man who you always wanted to end up in some ditch along the side of the road at the end of the book.

The Doctor and Van Statten looked at each other as if sizing each other up, ready to boast in whatever knowledge they had, "So you're just about an expert in everything apart from the things inside your museum," he said and the derision in his voice was evident, "Anything you don't understand you lock up,"

The man looked at him, "And you claim greater knowledge," the Doctor just looked at him as if he were an idiot for suggesting that, "And yet I captured you, right next to the Cage, fifty floors down. What were you doing down there?"

"You tell me," the Doctor challenged the man, "Show me what you've got locked up and I'll tell you where it's from, who it is, and why it's here," the two men faced off from each other, unwilling to back down, "Or you don't, fine with me,"

"You want to see?" Van Statten asked, and the Doctor didn't asked, "The cage contains my one living specimen," that sentence coming from a man like Henry Van Statten didn't sound too good, "Goddard!" the woman who had escorted us moved forward with a sharp nod, "Inform the Cage, we're heading down. You, English," he looked at the man behind him, "Look after the girls, go and canoodle or spoon or whatever you English do," I didn't respond to that, "And you," Van Statten looked at the Doctor, "Doctor with no name," he grinned, "Come and see my pet!"

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**Thanks to all those that reviewed last chapter. See you soon.**


	27. Dalek: Part 2

**Has anyone else been watching the Olympics? Living in London, most of the sports are right on my doorstep so I'm rather lucky there.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Dalek: Part 2

So the Doctor had gone off with his fellow genius Van Statten to look at the probably infinitely more interesting thing in this museum, which left Rose and I with the English employee. Rose was happy to walk off with him, and I was mainly trying to keep up with both of them, as the man didn't stop so we could look at what was in the cabinets that were positioned all around the corridors. Either way Rose clearly liked him, at least a little bit, "So I'm Adam," the man told us, as we turned down yet another corridor, which looked exactly the same as the previous one. Van Statten clearly didn't believe in varying the colour scheme of this place, "I work here as you no doubt gathered, and you two are?"

"I'm Rose," my sister introduced herself, before turning towards me. I ignored her, looking in another cabinet that had a large lump of rock inside. I saw her frown slightly, probably rather irritated with me, "And that's my younger sister: Mary-Anne," now I shot her the irritated look, "Although just call her Alice, most people call her that," For the second time that day, I thought I heard a scream down the corridor, "You're going to get lost if you don't hurry up," she called back to me, "I'm not hanging around for you,"

I frowned before shaking my head, following them. Rose was right in that aspect. This was one place where I didn't want to get lost inside, "How did you manage to get inside the museum?" Adam asked Rose, "Van Statten was talking about it before you got here. None of the entrances had been forced into; you all sort of appeared next to Vault,"

"Oh we..." Rose shared a look with me, "We're just really good at getting into difficult places," she finished, hesitantly, "Didn't realise that we would be almost killed for stepping in here. Van Statten seems to have his own private army,"

"They're actually the army," Adam corrected, and I frowned, "Mr Van Statten knows the President personally, so he can get his own section of the army to use for his own personal use," he swiped his card through a door, "Tell you the truth, they don't really do much. Apart from you two, there haven't been any intruders, or any real threats. But I suppose Mr Van Statten likes the security of having them around. Just in case something should happen. I tend to stay out of their way most of the time," we walked into a large office which was a complete mess. Adam seemed to catch my eye, "Sorry about the mess," he apologised, immediately tidying up around the place, "Mr Van Statten sort of lets me do my own thing, so long as I deliver the goods,"

I picked up a long telescope, "Sounds like you buy a lot of stuff that you think might be alien and then label it," I informed him looking down it, and smiling sweetly, "Odd sort of a job, what if you don't find anything?" he ignored me and Rose took the telescope off me, "It's a fair enough question," I muttered.

Adam picked up a large lump of rock, holding it out to Rose, "What do you think this is?" he offered it to her and she took it, before shrugging, "I think...well, I'm almost certain that this is from the hull of a spacecraft," I picked up a bouncy ball, catching it easily in my hand, as I wandered around the office, "The thing is, it's all true, everything the United Nations tries to keep a secret. Aliens, spacecraft, visitors to Earth," he was really preaching to the choir with us, "They really exist,"

Rose chuckled with amusement. She was probably thinking the same as me, "That's amazing," she answered him, "Really incredible," Adam might have got a job looking at bits of metal all day but he really couldn't see sarcasm when it was presented right in front of him.

"I know it sounds incredible," he pressed on, clearly oblivious to Rose and my reaction to his words, "But I honestly believe the whole universe is teaming with life. Aliens and other planets, they're really out there with their own technology, dropping pieces to Earth,"

"I'm...gobsmacked," Rose said to him, nodding her head, "Yeah, incredibly amazed," she looked at me, and I nodded quickly, "And you do what exactly...?" my phone started beeping, and I grinned as I pulled it out of my pocket, "Sit here and catalogue it all?"

I looked at the number, not recognising it, but accepting it, and placing it to my ear, "So we should be out of here fairly soon," the Doctor's voice echoed in my ear, and I frowned, looking at the number, "And yes, I borrowed someone's mobile phone,"

"I wasn't going to say anything," I replied, before gesturing at Rose, and pointing to my phone. She nodded, and I slipped outside, closing the door behind me, "So you're probably on your way to meet this alien that Van Statten's got locked up in his vault. You help the alien, teach Van Statten a very well deserved lesson on how to treat aliens and people alike properly, and we leave this downright creepy museum for greener pastures, hopefully,"

"That's the plan," he agreed, "All we have to do is get this alien back home and find out why it sent the signal. Won't be too difficult for us," there was a pause on the other end of the phone, "What's the English bloke like?" he inquired.

"Not sure," I shrugged, "Apparently he finds pieces of alien technology for large sums of money, then catalogues it, before sticking it in one of those cabinets. Rose appears to like him; they're talking about pieces of metal that might or might not be part of a hull of a ship. Hats off to her though, she's making him feel rather clever," I grinned to myself, "Anyway, I better let you get back to saving the alien from Van Statten. We'll be here in Adam's office,"

"All right, I'm just going to talk to what's here," he told me, "See you then," the phone line went dead and I stared the phone, a rather silly smile on my face. I then shook my head violently. I had to get over myself, he was a nine hundred year old alien that zoomed around in a police box throughout the whole of space and time and I was an eighteen shop girl from London. Any chances of us...I refused to think about that, instead placing my phone firmly in my pocket and walking into the office once again.

Rose was still talking to Adam about the universe. Maybe they had more in common than I first thought; "Imagine if you could get out there," she was saying, "See it all for real. Travel all the way out to the stars and see them up close for proper. Not down here hidden from the whole world, looking over bits of metal,"

"Yeah?" Adam was hanging onto every word that she was saying, "I would give anything to go and see it. But I was born too soon," he added, "I don't think it's ever going to happen, at least not in our lifetimes. Maybe in a hundred years time we could do it, but certainly not now,"

Rose started looking through sheets of paper and I perched on a stool, watching them two. It was so easy for them to do what they wanted. Flirting so easily, "Oh you never know," Rose said to him, smiling, "What about all those people that say they've been inside spaceships and things. That they've talked to aliens," I shot her a warning look. It was one thing to talk about aliens, but it was another to tell people. I didn't think that saying the Doctor was an alien in a place which studied aliens was a particularly good idea.

However Adam merely snorted with laughter, "I think they're nutters," he said and Rose burst into laughter.

"Yeah," she nodded, grinning at him, "I think so too," she nudged me discreetly and I swatted her back a little. At least she had no intention of telling Adam that actually we were from 2005, which was seven years ago. "So how did you end up here then?"

Adam grinned smugly, "I was headhunted," he answered, sitting on his chair, "Van Statten has agents all over the world looking for geniuses to recruit," Rose and I both looked at each other. He was a genius, which would explain everything about him, "I know that look," he was still grinning, "Sorry, I can't help it. I was born clever," he leaned closer to Rose, "When I was eight, I logged onto the Pentagon defence system, nearly caused World War Three,"

"And you think that's funny?" I asked him, frowning slightly. It wasn't that I didn't like clever people, I got on with them fine, but Adam just gave off the impression that he knew just how clever he was, and liked proving how much he could do. It was a little disconcerting.

Adam merely looked at me as if I was an idiot, "You should have been there," he told us, "Just to see them running around, completely panicking. Like the world was going to end," he as still wearing that smile, "It was fantastic," Rose smiled coyly at him, and I picked up the telescope again, just to distract myself from whatever they were going to do or say, "So the Doctor, who is he? I mean..." Adam stuttered a little, "Are you and him...sort of?"

"Oh no!" Rose said replied instantly, "Me and him are just friends," I saw out of the corner of my eyes that she pointed slightly at me, and Adam nodded at her.

I shut the telescope loudly, both of them jumping at the noise, "So," I brushed past them, looking at the computer screen, "You sit up here and catalogue all this stuff which might or might not be alien, while Van Statten's got a real live alien downstairs," I said clearly, ignoring the warmth of my face, "Bits of metal are all very well, and you're supposed to be a genius. Wouldn't you want to be down there seeing what's happening or what it is doing?"

Adam shrugged, "I did ask but Mr Van Statten keeps the alien to himself. Only authorised personnel are allowed to look at it," he informed us, "Your friend is lucky that Van Statten is letting him take a look, usually he doesn't let anyone apart from himself and the security team that he has guarding the vault take a peek," he smiled suddenly, "Although...if you are a genius, it doesn't take long to patch though on the comms system," Rose grinned back, standing next to him as he typed rapidly on the computer, "It doesn't really do much, the alien, it's weird, it's a bit useless. Like this giant great big pepper pot,"

The screen fizzled to life, showing a room with what did look like a huge pepper pot chained to four pillars. I stared at the screen as a man in an orange uniform dug something into the alien, drilling. A loud screaming echoed over the speakers, "You sit here and watch this?" I demanded of Adam who was looking away from the screen.

"No," he said immediately, "I don't know what they're doing," he swallowed heavily, not looking at either of us, "It's got nothing to do with me,"

"It's being tortured," Rose stressed, "Take us down there right now," she was already walking out of the door, with me following behind her. Adam was slow in catching us up, "Do you think the Doctor knows about what's happening down there?" she asked me.

"I have no idea," I said to her, as we rounded a corner, "He was on his way down to the alien when he phoned me but I don't know whether he knows what is happening or not," I grabbed her arm, turning her towards me, "When we get down there what do you intend to do?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, but if it can scream then it can talk," she answered, "You don't agree with this either, do you?" I nodded at her words, "Then we need to find out what it wants, what it needs, and what we need to get it out of there, before they kill it," she looked at Adam, "Where is it?"

"The Vault, but..." Rose had already grabbed my hand, and pulled us towards the stairs, "I'm going to get in so much trouble for this," he told us, opening the doors, leading us down to the Vault which was mainly spent in silence. We walked into the Vault, Adam holding up his ID badge, "Level Three access, special clearance from Mr Van Statten," I ignored him, going into the Vault with Rose, "Don't get too close,"

The alien did look like a pepper pot, although it was a brass colour with bumps along the bottom. It had an eyestalk which a blue beam shone out of it. It also had what looked like a sink plunger and a whisk as well. It just looked sad at being trapped in this Vault, the plates on the bottom half having been prised open. "Hello?" Rose said and we moved toward towards it, "Hello, can you hear me?" the eyestalk moved up to look at us beadily, "Are you in pain?"

"I'm Mary-Anne, this is Rose. Are you hurt?" I asked it but it didn't say anything to us, "I think I heard you scream earlier, I'm sorry for what they did to you, but we've got a friend. He's called the Doctor, and he can do something to help you when he gets down here," I bit my lip, "Do you have a name?"

There was a long pause, "Yes..." it said and I frowned. It was a metallic like noise, more of a croak than anything else, but still a voice, "I am in pain," it continued, "They tortured me," the eyestalk lowered miserably, "But still they fear me. Do you fear me?"

Rose shook her head, "No," she answered, before rushing her words, almost tripping over them, "But we can help you, like my sister said, we've got a friend who can help you. He can get you out of this place. You don't have to stay here,"

"I am dying," the words from the alien were slowing down, like it was a car running out of fuel, "I welcome death, but I am glad that before I die, I met humans who were not afraid," for such a metallic sounding voice, the sadness was all together far too clear, "My race is dead. I-I am alone in the universe,"

Rose moved towards it, "I'm sorry," she told it, before reaching out her hand, placing it gently on the domed head of the alien.

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**I should have the next chapter for tomorrow, providing nothing goes terribly wrong with the Internet. See you next time.**


	28. Dalek: Part 3

**Whoo! Next chapter. Told you I'd get it up today. Thank you to all that reviewed yesterday :)**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Dalek: Part 3

Immediately she jerked back with a pained cry, her handprint leaving an imprint on the shell of the alien, before fading as if it had been absorbed into the metal. I looked at Rose's hand seeing that it was red as if it had been burned. There was a spark from the chains as they snapped, leaving the alien able to move towards us, "Genetic material extrapolated!" it cried triumphant, more sparks and bangs erupting behind it, "Initiate cellular reconstruction!"

"That's a bit not good," I questioned, allowing Rose to pull me back towards the door of the Cage, "Just a bit not good," I turned to looked at my sister, "Why the hell did you touch it for God's sake?!" I demanded from her, "That should be a rule," I turned to watch the alien, before banging on the door, "Hello?! Something's happening! It's gone a bit wrong!" the Cage door opened and the man wearing the orange suit walked towards us, "Alien on the loose," I told him calmly, and he pushed past me.

"What the hell have you done?!" he snapped at us, and I shifted towards the door, Rose slightly behind me. The man picked up a drill from the side of the room, hefting it towards the alien, "Ohh, at last!" he crowed at it, "Come alive have you? Now watch it there with your egg whisk and your sink plunger," I grimaced at his tone of voice. This was a man that had willingly tortured the alien before we had got there, "Oh that's scary, look at me, I'm shaking with fear," I saw him grin, "Don't tell me, after all this time, are you finally ready to talk?" the man raised the drill, "Well that's tough because I haven't finished with the screaming," what looked like a sink plunger moved towards the man, who laughed, "What are you going to do?" he sneered, "Sucker me to death!"

"Don't!" I moved forward but it was too late as the plunger grabbed the man's face, growing like a fungus over his skull and I looked away as there was an awful crunching as bone and brain were crushed together, "Out," I said quietly, before pushing Rose and Adam out the door, "Out!" the door closed behind me. I closed my eyes, leaning against the door, before going over to the security men, "That door is locked, right? It can't get out?"

"Not likely!" the security guard answered, typing quickly on the keyboard, alarms blaring around us, "Condition Red!" he shouted into the microphone, "Repeat, Condition Red, this is not a drill!" there was instantly a flood of soldiers into the room, their guns trained on the door, "I'm trying to get Mr Van Statten up but he's not responding," the man said to me, "What the hell happened in there?" I didn't say anything, and the screen showed Van Statten, that blonde woman and the Doctor standing in front of the screen on the other end, "Sir, the Metaltron escaped it's bindings, it killed Simmons," he gabbled, "I don't know what happened in there, the two intruders did something,"

"Hey!" I scowled at him, before looking at the Doctor, "But true, I suppose, Rose decided to get smart with the alien," now it was Rose's turn to scowl at me, and I glared back at her, "It's true," I turned towards the screen again, "She thought it would be a good idea to touch the alien's head, the thing nearly burnt her hand off and escaped it's chains, shouting something about genetic extrapolation," I was getting panicky, "But it just crushed a man's head with the...sink plunger, not moments ago. Doctor, what do we do?"

"You've got to keep it in that cell," the Doctor ordered us and I nodded, looking over to the door, seeing that it was shut tight, "Whatever you have to do, you have to keep it contained so it can't get out. If the Dalek escapes then it will kill every single one of you in there," I grasped the edge of the table, "Mary-Anne," I nodded minutely, "You've got to get you and Rose out of there as fast as you can, the Dalek will kill everyone if it escapes," Dalek...another name to add to my growing list of aliens to keep away from.

The security guard shoved his face in front of the camera again, "I've sealed the compartment, it can't get out," he told the assembled group, "The Dalek can't get out, that lock has got a billion combinations," now why did that sound almost too good to be true?

"A Dalek can calculate a thousand billion combinations in one second flat!" the Doctor insisted and I looked towards the large door, hearing something move around on the other side. Whatever the Dalek was, it sure wasn't a quiet alien, "Rose..." my sister looked at him, "It's not your fault," she nodded shakily, not really believing him, "Now make sure that both of you get to safety. I can't protect either of you if you don't get as far away from the Dalek as possible,"

"I'll get us out, Doctor," she promised, "Don't worry, I'll get her out," he nodded firmly, and I swallowed at that. Then there was a click from the large door, and Adam pulled us to behind the line of soldiers, as the Dalek, as I now knew it to be called appeared from behind the door. I pressed my hands to my ears at the sounds of the machine guns that instantly went off at the sight of the alien, "Mary-Anne!" I looked at the screen which still showed the three people, "Get yourselves out of there, and don't stop,"

I turned back towards the Dalek which was unscathed from all the bullets that had been blasted at it, "De Maggio!" the security guard shouted at the woman that was next to us, "Take the civilians, get them alive, that's your job, do you understand?" the woman nodded sharply.

"Understood, sir!" she obeyed, before barking at Rose, Adam and I, "You three, with me," Rose grabbed Adam to run out of the room, me following behind quickly, "Civilians, coming through!" she told the aligned soldiers that were kneeling, their eyes looking down the scopes of their guns, and I dodged them easily, not wanting to fall on my face. There was a loud shrieking cry behind us which no doubt meant something very bad behind me, and we ran like we had never run before. Rose and I were turning out to be serious danger magnets; maybe it would have been better if we had gone with the Doctor instead of having been split up like we had done.

The lights suddenly went off and there was a crackle overhead. Our favourite maniac's voice echoed over the loudspeaker, "Don't hurt it!" he shouted, and I rolled my eyes, "I don't want a scratch on its bodywork, do you hear me?" I really couldn't believe the arrogance of this man. He was basically ordering his men to die by whatever the Dalek wanted to do to them. If the Doctor told us to run and not stop, then that was what I was going to do, there wasn't a chance that I was going to stop, "Can you hear me?!"

"Can you believe this idiot?" I muttered to Rose as we ran through more halls after Adam, "How's your hand?" she showed it to me, the palm still a reddish colour. It looked painful, "Soon as we get up to the Doctor, we'll find some ice, and you'll be all right," I dug the phone out of my pocket, quickly redialling the last number that had called it, "Come on Doctor," I muttered, running along yet another corridor, "Pick up, pick up," it clicked through, "We're running along a corridor, heading towards the surface," I told the Doctor.

"Good," he answered, "Now you're going to have to go through weapons testing which is the way that the Dalek's also going to go. You have to stay ahead of it and get through there before it reaches them," I quickly puffed out of a breath, "I'm getting everyone in that area to be given a gun to try and shoot the Dalek. Unfortunately there's nothing behind you that will hold up the Dalek. It is heading right for you, so you have to be fast,"

"About thirty soldiers just went past me," I argued, and almost stopped, realising that they were all dead, "Oh..." I let out a sigh, "I see," I picked up my speed, still at the back of our group of four but close behind, "So this Dalek, how high do I need to put it on my list of dangerous alien that should never ever be crossed?"

There was a moment of silence, and I knew that it was bad, "First," he admitted, and I tensed up, not allowing that tiny voice in the back of my head, which was screaming in panic, to get any louder, "The Daleks were who I fought in the Time War," now I did stumble a little at that. We were against what he fought against in the Time War? "It's just a foot soldier," he tried to reassure me, "But one is just enough to kill millions of people, so we can't let it get to the surface. It has to stay underground,"

"So we're trapped in an underground bunker, fighting probably one of the worst things in the existence of the universe, and you're telling me not to panic?" I summed up, ignoring the worried look from Rose, "I'll try my best," I could feel a stitch beginning to break out, "You said that you were the only one left from the Time War. You said that everything burnt. How did this Dalek manage to survive that when everything else...didn't?"

"It must have fallen through time," he told me, "The only survivor, which makes it more dangerous than ever. It's alone and probably wanting revenge. Which isn't good for me," I heard him clear his throat, "I need you to get up here before it gets to you. Promise me you'll be safe?"

I bit my lip, "I'll try," I promised him, "I'll try to be as quick as I can, I promise I'll try," I looked ahead, "Better go, we're just about to reach some stairs," I closed the phone, running through the doors, panting with the effort, "I am not doing that again," I told Rose who was as out of breath as I was, "Where are we?"

"Level Fifty Three," she replied, patting the yellow sign, "But this is more like it," she gestured to the stairs, "This is what we need. Stairs! The Dalek hasn't got legs, it can't get up them, it's stuck," I leant against the wall, breathing outwards, "Come on, we're not out of it yet," she held out her good hand, helping me up, as we climbed the stairs slowly, "What did the Doctor say to you?"

"Oh," I closed my eyes, still catching my breath, "We're up against a terrifying death machine that he fought in the Time War, and has somehow survived by falling through time and space," she gaped at me, and I looked up at her, "I probably wasn't supposed to tell you that," I tried to smile, but failed, "We need to get through Weapons Testing to get to the highest point which is where the Doctor, Van Statten and freedom is. I don't think he figured out the stairs problem," I sat down on the staircase, "God that was tiring,"

The Dalek rolled into the small stairway, it's beady eye looking at what was in front of him. It seemed like a different Dalek altogether. It was shinier, the plates that had been prised open by Van Statten's men had been fixed, and there wasn't a single piece of rust on it, like when I had seen it before, "Great big alien death machine," Adam jeered at it, and I shot a dark look at him, "Defeated by a flight of stairs," I wasn't an expert in alien negotiations, but I was fairly sure that what he had just said wouldn't help us if the Dalek did find a way of getting up those stairs.

De Maggio aimed her gun at the Dalek, "Now listen to me," she ordered the Dalek; "I demand that you return to your Cage. If you want to negotiate then I can guarantee that Mr Van Statten will be willing to talk. I accept that we imprisoned you, and maybe that was wrong, maybe we can help you," the Dalek didn't say anything, just kept its blue glare on us, "But people have died, and that stops, right now. The killing stops, have you got that?" still it said nothing, "I demand that you surrender, is that clear?"

The Dalek said only one word, "Elevate," and all four of us stared in horror as the Dalek started to rise off the ground, unimpeded by the stairs. It rose ridiculously slowly as if it was deliberately taunting us on our hopes that we could possibly outmatch it. We were screwed.

"Adam," De Maggio breathed in deeply, set on where she was standing, "Get them out of here," Rose moved towards her, but the soldier shook her off, "Somebody has to try to stop it, now you three have to go, don't look back, just run!" Rose grabbed my arm, pulling my roughly up and half dragging me up the stairs.

I shook her off once we got into the corridor, and half started going back towards the stairs once we heard De Maggio's scream, "Oh god..." Rose whispered, and I half clung to her arm, "We have to keep going," she stressed to me, and I nodded shakily, "Come on...Adam," the man was shortly behind us, "We have to go through Weapons Testing," she told him, "It's the only way we can get out," he nodded, running in front and leading us down a specific route.

We suddenly ran into a large clear floor, which had about forty men aiming guns at us. So this must be Weapons Testing, "Hold your fire!" I looked up at a man standing a floor up. Commander or something, clearly he was in charge, "You two get the hell out of there. Clear the zone!" Adam pulled Rose along and I quickly followed, standing behind the line of soldiers, almost sick with fear as the Dalek trundled its way into the clear room.

There was incredibly tense silence as we all watched the Dalek and a distinct shiver ran up the back of my neck as I watched it. Was it me or was the Dalek looking specifically at us? Directly at us? My fears were confirmed when Rose pulled me out of the Dalek's gaze behind the large metal door, "It's looking at us," she whispered at me, "It was looking right at us,"

"So?" Adam interrupted what I was going to say, "It wants to slaughter us. It's just got that metal eye thing; it's looking all around,"

I shook my head, "No, it's not like that," I corrected, "It's like that metal isn't what the Dalek actually is. Like there's something else there...something inside it maybe, I don't know," Rose wrapped me in a hug and I clung to her, soaking up the sisterly security that hug gave me, "It was looking at us...maybe like it knows something...something about us,"

Adam didn't have any stupid comment to reply to that.

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**My only real annoyance with this episode is that for most of it the Doctor is with Van Statten and Rose and Alice are running from the Dalek, which therefore makes for very little together time. Hence I've had to settle for lots of phone calls.**

**Till Next Time...**


	29. Dalek: Part 4

**Whoo! Another chapter done and dusted. Thank you for all that reviewed and read, you're all such a delight. 80 reviews, I'm over the moon.**

**grapejuice101- As always your reviews make me smile, and you're absolutely fantastic. I should really dedicate this whole story to your reviews.**

**Shaybo27- I love your reviews, they always make me try and strive to improve my work, I've come a long way.**

**TheGirlWhoImagined- the Doctor texting...now you've got me thinking about it and how to put that in :-) Maybe not for the Ninth Doctor but certainly the Tenth...Oh the possibilities.**

**To the mysterious M- You're my favourite anonymous reviewer, just for your smiley faces.**

**Disclaimer: Still don't own it, which is a shame.**

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Dalek: Part 4

It was safe to say that the Dalek wasn't willing to negotiate with anyone. There was a silence as the Dalek rolled towards the assembled troops and technicians that had guns of all kind trained on the alien. Rose and I were watching behind the line of fire, and I was definitely hoping that it wouldn't be able to get any closer to the surface, that it couldn't kill over thirty people all at once, "What are we going to do?" Rose muttered to me and I shook my head, not knowing what to do, "Alice?"

"I think..." I started, "I think we ought to..." I swallowed, before looking at her, "Let's see what happens here, it can't get past this many people in time, can it?" she was silent, "If something goes wrong we run for our lives, but there are a lot of soldiers out there ready to shoot-" there was an instant blast of gunfire, and we both watched as the soldiers proceeded to shoot as hard as they possibly could. I didn't know what the Dalek could do but none of the bullets that were being shot at it were doing the slightest bit of damage. It was just...standing there, not gaining a scratch on its bodywork. Well Van Statten would be pleased at least. If we all got out of this alive.

Then the Dalek appeared to rise so it was hovering twenty feet in the air, untouched and unharmed by the bullets that were still being fired into it from all sides. How they could have possibly been fought in the Time War, I didn't know because nothing seemed to be working. Then suddenly it shot the fire alarm, the sprinklers turning on and almost flooding the place, "What's it doing?" Adam asked and I shrugged, not knowing, "What is it planning?"

The Dalek's plan was quickly revealed as it fired a single beam into the water, quickly electrocuting the men that had water lapping around their feet. Adam leapt back with a yell, and I pulled Rose around the corner of the door, making sure that none of the water reached our feet, "I-I think we've found out what its plan is," I stuttered, hearing the screams of the soldiers in the other room. I saw Adam reach for the doors to close them and I quickly pulled him back. He glared at me, "Those doors are metal," I told him sharply, "It's already used water to electrocute about twenty men; do you really want to risk putting your hands on a metal door?" he didn't say anything and I leant against the wall, not hearing anyone in the other room, not even a scream, "I think it might be a good idea to get out of here,"

We all jumped as the Dalek's voice rang out, "I shall speak only to the Doctor," it ground out, its voice as metallic as the last time I had heard it, "I fed off the DNA of Rose Tyler and extrapolating the biomass of a time-traveller regenerated me," it added and I looked at Rose. Now that certainly did not sound good. My sister looked at her hand, still rather red from earlier, looking almost horrified at it, before shaking it rapidly as if trying to get rid of some remaining residue on her hands.

"You're going to get rusty," the Doctor's voice broke out onto the loudspeaker, his voice filled with sarcasm, "What's your next trick then? I saw you downloading the internet, what did you find? Lots of naked bodies and people arguing about the revival of Buffy, did it help? Did you go to a chatroom? Find a date, going to hook up with a coffee machine?" I pressed a hand to my mouth to stifle the laugh that would have alerted the Dalek to where we were.

"I searched for my species," the Dalek barked out, "I scanned your satellites and radio telescopes," there was an agonisingly long period of silence; "There was nothing," the voice of the Dalek rose to an angry cry, almost incensed at the result that it had received, "Where shall I receive my orders from now!"

The Doctor scoffed audibly over the speaker, "So much for intelligence," he answered, "You're just a soldier with no commands, trapped on a little world far away from any form of superior technology that you can gain for yourself,"

"Then I shall follow the Primary Order," the Dalek announced, "The Dalek Instinct. To destroy! To conquer!"

Rose cleared her throat, "On that note," she said, and I looked towards her, "I think it might be a very good idea if we started running again," I nodded, eager to get away from the Dalek, "Anywhere that gets us away from that thing. Come on Adam!" she pulled the man along as we charged down the corridor, "Don't be late, we're going to have to be quick!" he quickly picked up the pace, heading anywhere that would take us away from the Dalek, "Alice, don't get behind," she called back to me.

"Wishful thinking!" I shouted back to her, before pulling out my phone as it started ringing, bringing it to my ear, "This really isn't the best time, Doctor," I gasped into the phone, still running, "We're running from an alien death machine that has just decided to electrocute about thirty men with two blasts of its laser gun and is currently hunting us down to do the very same thing to us, so I am a little busy to answer any question. What do you need?"

"I need you to run faster than you have every run before," he told me and I sighed, irritated, "I know, you're probably running as fast as you can be already but I need you to move faster, because you've got a matter of minutes to get to where we are," I instantly tried to speed up, "Where are you?"

Adam, Rose and I all hit a staircase, and I almost collapsed with the effort at running that fast, "We're at Level Forty Nine," I answered him, pressing a hand to the sign by the stairs, "Staircase. How far do we need to run to get to wherever you need us?"

"You have got to keep moving," he said frantically, and I could hear rapid typing on the other end of the line, "The Vault is being sealed off with steel bulkheads and I need you all to get to Level Forty Six so get three floors up as fast as you can," I let out a sigh, already taking the stairs two at a time, "I'm sorry, but run,"

I looked over at Rose, "The Doctor says that we have to get up to Level Forty Six," I informed her and she nodded rapidly, probably too worn to talk to me, "Rose says that we'll make it," I relayed back to the Doctor, "Just give us a bit of time. Can't you ask them to stop closing the bulkheads?"

"I'm the one who is closing them," he replied, and I closed my eyes, before running further, "And I can't wait, the power's going to die any minute now if we hesitate, and I can't help you if you're trapped on the other side of the bulkheads. You get trapped on the other side and you won't be able to find a way out unless you have a very powerful missile on you," we banged open the door to Level Forty Six, Adam charging ahead of us, "Now for God's sake, just run," I let out breath running forward down the corridor, moments behind Rose, "Are you running?"

"As hard as I can bloody well run," I informed him, "Next time we get into a situation like this, Doctor, I am going to wear a pair of running shorts," I heard a faint chuckle that was filled with more tension than amusement, "We're almost there, you just have to give us two seconds to get to it," we rounded the corner, and I could see the metal door of the bulkhead slowly coming down, "I can see the bulkhead now," I lowered the phone, charging forward to the gate, which Adam had only just managed to roll underneath. Rose looked behind her, "Don't look back!" I shouted at her as she slowed down and we hit the steel door just as it shut.

"Mary-Anne?" I could hear the Doctor's voice coming out of the phone but I ignored him, dropping my mobile on the floor as I pressed a hand to the door, knowing that we had missed it by a few seconds, "Rose, Mary-Anne? Where are you?" the Doctor's voice was in the background, like I couldn't hear it properly, "Mary-Anne, did you make it? Rose?!"

I suddenly banged my hand against the steel door angrily, grimacing at the pain that it caused in my hand. My phone lay forgotten on the ground, and Rose picked it up, holding it to her ear, "Sorry, Doctor," she said quietly, "We were a bit slow," I rested my head against the cold metal of the door, kicking it violently. Bloody hell, this was not going too well for us today. And now there was no way of getting out of the Vault, "We didn't manage to make it through the door, just a few seconds off. I'm sorry,"

I walked over to her, taking the phone off her, "It was my fault, Doctor, I was a bit behind and Rose slowed down to help me forward," I admitted to him, swallowing hard, before looking behind me and seeing the Dalek turn the corner into the long stretch. I turned to the steel door, "See you then, Doctor," I squeezed Rose's hand tightly, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world, neither of us would have missed it for the whole world, and it's not your fault, please remember that," I moved closer to Rose, both of us gripping each other's hands, "I wouldn't have missed meeting you for the whole universe. Bye," I hugged Rose tightly, not wanting to see the Dalek aim its laser at us.

"Exterminate!" I tensed as it said those words and felt the sizzling heat of the laser as it was fired. I opened my eyes slowly when I didn't feel it hit me, and quickly looked around. There was a roundish hole in the door which was right next to me and I hissed slightly as I realised that if it had been two inches more to the left then it would have hit me. Not a pleasant realisation.

"Go on then," Rose told it, "Kill us," the Dalek didn't move towards us, "Why are you doing this!"

"I am armed!" the Dalek sounded almost frantic with worry, but that was...couldn't possibly be possible, "I will kill it is my purpose!" Rose and I moved back at the sight of the laser on the deadly killing alien, not wanting to get in its way.

"What do you expect?" she asked it, "And now what are you going to do to us?" it was silent, and I could feel my heart going a hundred miles an hour. Why was the Dalek hesitating to kill us when it had killed everyone else that was in the Vault, "What are you waiting for?" I stared at it, "You killed everyone else here. They are all dead because of you,"

The Dalek's eyestalk rose up, "They are dead because of us," I frowned at it, what on earth was it talking about, "Move aside," Rose looked at me, pushing me behind her, and I realised that the Dalek wanted Rose to move aside to kill me, "Move aside!"

"She's my sister," Rose told it, "I'm not moving aside for anything...not for anything," the Dalek moved forward slightly, "I'm not gonna move because you tell me to! She's my sister. Why do you want to kill her anyway?" I thought it best not to say anything and have its attention drawn to me.

"She is unimportant," the Dalek informed her, "You are important, you will not die here. Move aside!"

"She's my sister!" Rose argued back, "She hasn't done anything wrong, and I'm not moving aside to let you kill either one of us," she took a shaky breath in, "The Doctor will kill you if you kill her, I promise you that," I frowned at her, and she squeezed my hand. What was she talking about? "He asked me to keep her safe, to get her out and I haven't done that, I didn't her out, but he will kill you if you kill her," I have to say, bargaining with a Dalek for my life wasn't what I had expected from Rose, "So you can't kill us!"

"I feel your fear! Daleks do not fear, must not fear!" it shot two lasers on the side of us. "You gave me life, what else have you given me!" its voice was rising with every second, seriously worrying, "I have been contaminated!" he turned towards the camera, "You will get the Doctor to open the Vault!"

"No chance," Rose immediately said, "We're not letting you out of this place so you can kill anyone else," the Dalek's head swivelled to look at us directly and I took a deep breath in, "Nobody else dies today, don't kill anyone else, please!"

"Silence!" the Dalek ordered before the camera fizzled on, and I could see the Doctor, Adam, the blonde woman and Van Statten all in the office that we had been taken to at the very beginning of this adventure, "Open the bulkhead," I saw the Doctor freeze before turning towards us, "Or Alice Tyler will die!" Ok, that was not so good. Why didn't it want Rose dead? Not that I was ungrateful that Rose was to unharmed by the Dalek, but it seemed very intent on killing me and not her.

The Doctor stared out at us, "Mary-Anne, you're alive," he said and I smiled slightly at the screen, "I thought you were dead," he spoke to me, but he looked older for some reason, like something had completely upset him, "Don't do that again, either of you," he added.

"I did think that it wasn't my day to die today, Doctor," I answered him, "And well, you can't get rid of us that easily, and the day's not over yet," I looked at the Dalek next to me, "Don't open the bulkhead," I added, "Don't let it out up there, you know what it will do," I shook my head, "Don't open the bulkhead, not even for us,"

"Open the bulkhead or she dies!" the Dalek ordered once again and the Doctor made no move to go towards the keyboard, "What use are the emotions you have?" the Dalek asked the Doctor, "If you will not save the woman you love?" I looked sharply towards the Dalek as it said that. It couldn't mean...he surely couldn't mean? I turned towards the Doctor but he was silent. This wasn't the time for a conversation like that; this wasn't the time to perhaps reply to that, "Open the bulkhead!"

I saw the Doctor turn towards Van Statten, "I killed her once," he told them and I closed my eyes, knowing that he was going to open the bulkhead, "I can't do it again," the doors of the bulkhead started to rise and the Dalek moved towards the place, Rose and I following, not quite next to it, but both of us were quite willing to not being killed by the Dalek. Well, I was quite willing not to be killed; Rose didn't exactly have that problem of being killed.

"I'm begging you," Rose tried to reason with it as we entered the lift, "I really am begging you, don't kill them, you didn't kill Alice, you don't need to kill anyone," the Dalek's head swivelled around to look at both of us, and I ducked back to avoid my head hitting it, "Please, they don't deserve being killed,"

"But why not?" the Dalek demanded of us, shaking slightly as it did the Dalek equivalent of pacing, "Why are you still alive? My function is to kill! What am I? What am I?!"

I didn't really pay attention to the Dalek's frantic nerves that it was showing at us, which was slightly bizarre seeing as we had seen it murder over a hundred people. My mind was still back to what the Dalek had said not five minutes earlier. If the Dalek continued to self doubt itself then we might make it out alive, but then what then? What would the next conversation I had with the Doctor be about? What would I say?

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**I had the problem of whether Rose and Alice should be trapped behind the bulkhead. First I thought that maybe Alice should be trapped on her own, then I had the thought that the Dalek wouldn't not kill her as Rose was the one to regenerate it. **

**Then I thought Rose on her own, but that would completely get rid of that lovely moment of why the Doctor opens the door. **

**So I put them together to have a sisterly moment together in the face of death, because even if you find your siblings horribly annoying, you'd still stick with them until the very end. Or at least I would with my two brothers.**

******And I forgot to mention this but I'm over 100,000 words. :-) But not stopping now.**

**So long, people.**


	30. Dalek: Part 5

**Final part of Dalek. Thank you all that reviewed and read the last chapter. For all those that like the idea of Ten texting...well I'm definitely going to put it in.**

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who does not, and never will, belong to me.**

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Dalek: Part Five

The lift opened onto a panicked room. Van Statten was cowering in the corner and the blonde woman was back against the wall, "Don't move!" Rose ordered them, "Don't do anything to provoke it. It's starting to question itself!"

The Dalek headed towards Van Statten who stumbled backwards, sweating vastly as he shrunk against the wall. I looked around the room looking for the Doctor. He wasn't here, neither was Adam, a prospect which was slightly daunting. What were they doing that would take them away from this room? "You," the Dalek said to the trembling billionaire, "Van Statten, you tortured me," I looked at Rose who was standing right next to it. She had just saved me from being blasted by the damn Dalek, "Why?"

"I wanted to help you," Van Statten gabbled out high voice high with terror, "I just- I don't know! I was trying to help," he really wasn't doing himself any favours with his words, "I thought that is we could get through to you, if we could mend you, that's all I wanted!" he tortured something because he wanted to help? That was slightly twisted even if he was trying to save his skin, "I just wanted you better, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I swear, I just wanted you to talk!"

"Then hear me talk," it said, raising its laser, "Exterminate...Exterminate!"

Rose leapt forward, "Don't kill him!" she demanded and the Dalek's head swivelled around to look at her; "Don't kill him," she stepped up to the Dalek's eye, "You don't have to do this anymore, there must be something else that you want. Not just killing, what else is there? What do you want?"

"I want..." the Dalek took a while to think about it, "Freedom," I raised my eyebrows at that, what was it going to do once it got out into the real world? "I want to leave here," if I wasn't here to listen to the Dalek then I don't think that I would believe what it was saying to us.

"Right," Rose nodded, "Fine, we can get you out of here," she looked around, "We just need to find the highest spot in the base," she looked over at the blonde woman, "Where can we get out from?" she demanded and the woman looked shakily at the Dalek, "Just tell me!"

"The power has been cut from the helipad," she answered her, "There's no power left, but we're on Level One and that's the highest point of the base so you could theoretically shoot your way through the ceiling," Rose nodded, "What are you doing to do?"

"Me?" Rose asked her, "I have no idea," she looked at the Dalek, "Come on, follow me," she walked towards the door before looking at me, "Alice?" I quickly fell beside her, walking through the door, "You all right?"

I chuckled weakly, "You saved my life," I reminded her, "I owe you big time, a very, very big time, maybe even...well," I smiled, "Thank you for that, I didn't want to die just yet, and certainly not from..." I looked at the Dalek, "Well, not like that, never like that," I shivered violently, feeling violently cold for once. I didn't want to die like that. Not like that.

We rolled into a large empty corridor, looking very abandoned. Slowing to a halt the Dalek aimed its laser to the ceiling and blasted a large hole in it. Sunlight streamed down onto us and I tilted my head back, feeling the warm rays that shone down, "You made it," Rose told it, "You're out," she looked up at the sky, "I never thought that I would feel the sunlight again,"

"How does it feel?" The Dalek asked and its case suddenly shifted, the casework pulling apart, whirring with the effort. The plates of burnished bronze slid over itself, revealing what inhabited the pepper pot frame with and I stared at what was inside. The Dalek didn't really look like a Dalek or what I thought would be inside. It had tentacles, a single orange eye, but the skin was mottled blue and green. It looked so small and so tiny, that I forgot that it was a killing death machine, that it had tried to kill me and everyone else in the base or that it had nearly burnt my sister's hand off. It just looked so pitiable, with its legs waving in the air towards the sun.

There was a large metal click and I turned around, seeing the Doctor. But what he was holding in his hands made me step back, "What are you doing?" Rose asked him, staring at the huge gun in his hands. It was a massive gun which I had no doubts that could easily blast through the Dalek's metal bodywork, unlike the other guns that the soldiers had used, "Doctor, what the hell are you doing?"

"Get out of the way!" he ordered me, holding the gun, "Rose, Mary-Anne, both of you; get out of the way, right now! That thing has killed hundreds of people, I have got to do this, and I have got to end it. The Daleks destroyed my home, my people. I've got nothing else left, now please move out of the way!"

"It's not the one that's pointing the gun at us," I said to him, and he looked shaken at that, "Yeah, I know it's killed people, I was there. It tried to kill me, but Rose stopped it before it could," I looked back at the Dalek, "It didn't kill Van Statten, and it couldn't kill me. It changing, look..." I moved aside, "It only wants the sunlight,"

"But it can't," the Doctor lowered the gun, staring at it, dazed with confusion, "It can't possibly want the sunlight," he looked at me, "I couldn't..." he closed his eyes, "I wasn't..." I moved towards him, placing one hand on the gun, "Oh Mary-Anne, they're all dead,"

"Why do we survive?" the Dalek asked and it's voice was less mechanical now that there was no machinery around it, it was more normal in tone, "I am the last of the Daleks,"

The Doctor shook his head, "You're not even that," he admitted to it, "Rose's DNA did more than regenerate you, you've absorbed her DNA, you're mutating into something new. I'm sorry," he told it, "But that isn't better for a Dalek, not at all,"

"I can feel..." the Dalek croaked out, "So many ideas, so must darkness. Rose," my sister looked towards it, "You contaminated me, now give me orders. Order me to die," Rose shook her head, "This is not life! This is sickness. I shall not be like you. Order my destruction," I turned away from the Dalek not wanting to see it, and the Doctor held me in a tight embrace, "Obey! Obey! Obey!"

"Do it," Rose said, moving backwards to stand next to me, "I'm sorry,"

"I am frightened, Rose Tyler," the Dalek told her, "Exterminate," I turned to see the casing realigning itself, blocking the strange wizened creature from sight, and the Dalek rose up into air. The metal bumps that were plastered on its bottom half detached themselves creating a perfect circle. Then there was a crackle of electricity that joined the balls together before obliterating the Dalek, nothing left.

All of us stared at it, the large gun forgotten on the ground, "Oh my God, Adam! I'll see you two back at the TARDIS," Rose gasped out, running back along the corridor, leaving me alone with the Doctor. We looked at each other, and I smiled sadly at him, before grasping his hand as we walked back down the stairs. It was where we had left it, obviously. There wasn't even a scratch on her

The Doctor patted the TARDIS, "Little piece of home," he said quietly to me, "Better than nothing...better than being all alone," he sighed heavily, "The End of the Time War and I win. How about that," he smiled sadly, "The only one left out of everyone. God, that's ironic,"

"Well..." I shrugged, and he turned to look at me, "You never know, some of your people might have survived. I mean the Dalek did, falling through time all that way. Maybe, just maybe your people might have fallen through as well. You never know, you might just have missed them,"

"No," he shook his head, a bittersweet gesture, "No, none of them survived, I would know," he tapped his temple, "I would feel them in here. Feels like there is no one else left. Just me left," I clutched his hand tightly, "Don't pity me,"

"I'm not," I answered, "I'm sympathising, totally different thing," he chuckled without any amusement, "And well, there's always me, it's a good thing that I am not going anywhere else soon," I squeezed his hand back, "And you didn't know that Dalek was here until you saw it, the signal that it sent out, you didn't know that it was here. So maybe there is a Time Lord walking around somewhere, a million years from now, and you don't know about them because you haven't met him,"

"Maybe," he acquiesced, "But unlikely. I am not going to hold my breath hoping that there is going to be a Time Lord out there, waiting to be picked up or anything. I'm not going to wait that long," I nodded, it was all I could do to reach a compromise, "So we're just waiting for Rose until we can set off, we could..."

"No," I grinned, "We're not leaving my sister here for even five minutes. I've witness your driving, remember? You'll try and jump five minutes into the future to cut down on the time waiting for her and you'll end up making it three months or something. She'll only be a few seconds," I turned around to see Rose and Adam running towards us, "On second thoughts, we should have just left," I muttered to the Doctor, who raised his eyebrows at me, "I'm still waiting for him to grow on me. It takes quite a bit to get used to him," I smiled slightly at Rose, "You're late,"

"Sorry, didn't realise we were on a schedule," she replied back, "I was just looking for Adam," I gave a pointed look at the Doctor, "Hey, I saved your life," I nodded slowly, knowing that she was going to use that as a way to make sure that I was behaving. Leverage, now all I had to do was save her. Tall order.

Adam was looking at all of us, "We better get out of here," he told us, "Van Statten's disappeared, they're closing down the base. Goddard says that they're going to fill it with cement. Like it never existed," oh good, that sounded that it was about time to fill it in. No more creepy alien museums to visit underground anymore. That was always a bonus, "I'll have to go back home," and that was an even better prospect in my eyes, although Rose looked slightly down at it.

The Doctor was clearly thinking the same as me as he said, "He better hurry up then," he checked his watch, "The next flight to Heathrow leaves at fifteen hundred. He'll miss it if he's not careful," Rose tilted her head to the side, "Like he said, this place is about to be filled with cement,"

"Adam was saying that all his life he wanted to see the stars," she told him, and he sighed, "He's all on his own, Doctor and he did help us,"

The Doctor sighed, pulling open the door to the TARDIS, "On your own head be it," he said, pulling me into the TARDIS, "I have to stop bringing home strays," he muttered to himself, hitting various buttons on the console, "Come on Tyler," he called to Rose who entered quickly.

"What are you doing?" I heard Adam's voice echoed outside the TARDIS, "She said cement, she wasn't joking, we're going to get sealed in," I rolled my eyes, dropping into the seat, "Rose? What are you doing standing inside a wooden box? Rose," the door opened and Adam inside, "Oh my..." the Doctor hit the final button and the box shuddered as it dematerialised, "God," he stared around the place, "It's bigger on the inside than the outside,"

"Surprise," the Doctor said blandly, flicking switches, "This is the TARDIS, my time machine," he looked at him, before smiling, "Welcome aboard. Rose," he waved a hand at my sister, "You get the privilege to explain everything to Adam. I am busy,"

"Right," Rose looked slightly disconcerted, "It's rather hard to explain," she said to Adam, "The Doctor's an alien from another planet, this is the TARDIS, it stands for time and relative dimension in space, and yes, it does go in time," she grinned, pulling him towards the corridor, "Come on, I want to show you this place,"

I stretched slightly, "I need to just grab a few things from my room, have a shower etc," I bounced towards the corridor, "See you in a bit," I turned around, "And Doctor?" he looked back at me, "I've decided that I really...really don't like Utah,"

Around ten minutes later, I walked out of the corridor to see the Doctor leaning on the metal barriers looking into the distance, "Are you all right?" I asked him, resting next to him and he looked down, clearly not willing to talk, "Rose is just showing Adam around through the corridors, so I wouldn't try to find them in the next couple of minutes," his mouth twitched slightly, and I clasped my hands together, "I wanted to...thank you," I added, and he frowned, "I was more scared down there than I have been before...more scared than ever, but..." I smiled, "Well, we're both alive, that's something. You didn't have open that bulkhead but you did,"

"If it wasn't for me then you wouldn't be down there," he said, looking at me, and I sighed, "If it wasn't for me then you would be safe at home with your mother, there would be no danger for you. Nothing would try and kill you, no Daleks or Slitheen or anything. I'm not a safe person to be around," he folded his arms, "By rights I ought to drop you off at home, and not look back. Just to make sure that you're safe,"

I bit my bottom lip, "I'd just go on looking for trouble if you dropped me back at home," I admitted to him, "You'd have to wrap me in bubble wrap to stop me from getting into trouble, that or cotton wool," I grinned to myself, "And safe is relative. I could go travelling around the stars and moons with you, and be perfectly fine. Then I could cross the road in London and get mowed down by a big red bus. Safe is...dependant on where we are,"

"I doubt that you would be killed quite so easily if you were at home," he answered, "Whereas when you are here the chances get very high. If Rose hadn't persuaded that Dalek not to kill you then you would have been dead, and that would have been my fault,"

"I've noticed a trend with you," I said calmly, "And that is when things go wrong the safest place is next to you. People have died, people that didn't know you, weren't next to you, and they died," he looked down at the floor, "I know where it is safest, and that is right here...right next to you," I didn't look away from him, "Besides that Dalek didn't kill me so the point is rather moot," I shrugged, "And if I die then you get to advise me on safety then, but until then I think I'm in with rather a good chance,"

"You're eighteen, I doubt you really have an idea of what you should do," he told me, drawing himself up to however tall he is. I leant on the railings, watching him, "And if you were sensible then you should be running the opposite way from me. I am dangerous,"

"I don't care," I replied in the same tone of voice, before shaking my head, "You make me a better person, no doubt about it," he looked like he was going to interrupt, but I carried on, "And I think you need people around here, you were going to kill that Dalek today, and then you didn't because we asked you not to. Maybe..." I shrugged, "Maybe we just balance each other out, and there are plenty of even more dangerous things that spring to my mind than a nine hundred year old alien and his time machine shaped as a box,"

"Why did you stop me?" he asked and I frowned, "The Dalek? It had killed over two hundred people; you watched it kill over two hundred people without a care in the world. It wanted to kill you, and it would have done if it hadn't been for Rose. Why then did you try and save it? Most people would have stood aside and let me kill it,"

I looked at the central column, "There's a line that I don't want to cross," I told him, "I don't want to be someone that thinks that violence should be used on a daily basis. Only if it's a last resort," I ducked my head, "Which I suppose makes me a bigger hypocrite than I first thought I would be,"

"Why?" he inquired.

"Because I don't have the best record of being a pacifist," I confessed, shifting uncomfortably, "I don't know if Rose told you or anything, but we both dropped out of school. Rose after GCSEs and I dropped out just before the end of my first year of A-Levels. That's why we were both working at the shop where we first met," I sighed, "Rose left because she had this boyfriend...things happened. I got kicked out...for another reasons. Fighting mainly," I waved a hand, "Not that I ever really won, but I always started them," I rubbed my arms, "Guess I was just bored,"

"It's not a bad reason to be expelled," he admitted, "I mean I passed my exams, but I didn't fit in with anyone else really," he thought back, "But then I borrowed a TARDIS and ran away from Gallifrey, and well...here I am," he smiled slightly, "If I was a little less selfless then I would send you home, but I'm selfish, so I'm not going to,"

"If I had an inkling of self-preservation then maybe I would go," I finished, "But I'm not, because this world has so much colour," he smiled at the remembered analogy, "I said that I would follow you to the ends of the universe, that hasn't changed, you know. Even if we did spend three days indoors because something broke," I looked over my shoulder at the corridor, sighing, "But that was a promise, and I am not going to break it. You're stuck with me,"

"Not a bad life," he answered and I grinned back. He walked over to the console, pressing down a couple of buttons, "But next time, you sticking with me. No wandering off...no being split up. Only way I know how to keep you safe," I bounced over to the console, watching as he typed on the keyboard, "Rose as well," He looked intently at the glowing green ball, "You know what the Dalek said..." I twisted my head so sharply round that I thought I would crick my neck, waiting for him to continue. He shook his head slightly, "Think on it,"

"Beg pardon?" I questioned, completely thrown by what he said. What did that mean? Think on it? Think on what?! What did he mean when he said think on it? "Huh?"

"Where do you think we should take Adam?" he asked changing the subject completely and I rolled my eyes, "We could do Shakespeare? Or how about Charles the First," he looked at his watch, "Perhaps not, Sundays are borings, so those are off the list. Where do you think? All of space and time, where should we take Adam?"

I folded my arms, a little annoyed with the sudden change in conversation. I really needed to talk about what the Dalek had told, "Spaceship," I finally responded to him, "A good spaceship, and not one that is watching a planet blow up, a nice one," I wiggled a lever, and he leaned over to place it firmly up, "Futuristic maybe," I smiled at him, "I'd like to see a spaceship, like in Star Wars," I twirled on the stop, "Although, can it be a nice landing,"

"A spaceship?" he inquired smiling down at me, "I think that I can manage that," there was a spark from the TARDIS, and we both recoiled back, "Once I have finished fixing that..." I nodded reassuringly, sitting down on the seat, and pulling out my diary, "Are you going to write everything in there?"

I looked up, "I've always kept a diary," I told him, honestly, "Someone once suggested it to me, when I was very young...can't have been more than seven years old," I frowned, "He had very stupid hair," I started writing in my book, drawing a very bad picture of a Dalek by the side of it, "But maybe when I am long gone, someone can read this and know all about me, what I did, and who I did it with," I leant back, "It's sort of a habit now,"

"It's fine with me," he said, spinning the dial rapidly and the TARDIS shook suddenly, "So we are going anywhere where there is a spaceship..." the TARDIS rolled violently, Rose and Adam appearing through the corridor. I noticed that Rose had miraculously changed clothes. No prizes to guessing what she had been doing. The Doctor eyed them both, "That was quick," he merely said and I had to disguise my laugh as a choking fit, as Rose pursed her lips a little, "Perhaps I should buy you a drink," he added to me, "See how things proceed from there,"

I looked at him sceptically, "Do you have any money to buy me a drink?" I said to him and he paused, thinking that over, "Let me buy you the drink, and we can still see how things progress from there. Maybe at our next stop,"

"I'll put it on my calendar," he promised, before looking sharply back at the console, "So Adam!" he moved to the other man, clapping him on his back, "We are currently travelling through space and time, through the Time Vortex, and we are going to end up anywhere in the whole universe, within reason. Sundays are not included," he moved around the console again, "So we are going to go somewhere...fantastic," he hit a large button, "So hold on tight,"

* * *

**So Adam's joined the gang. I never really liked that character...well who honestly did? Still it's the Long Game next, and then Father's Day. And I have big ideas for Father's Day...I'll leave you to ponder that over.**

**So see you next time, keep those wonderful reviews coming in. ;-)**

**_Next Time_**

**_"It's the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, in the Year Two Hundred Thousand,"_**

**_..._**

**_"It's boiling," I told the Doctor, leaning my cheek on my hand, "I'm sweating like mad in here, you still owe me that drink," I looked over to where he was standing, "And you're worried about the plumbing,"_**

**_"Plumbing is important, Mary-Anne," he replied happily, buzzing away with the sonic screwdriver, "Never ever underestimate plumbing. It's what makes the world go round,"_**

**_..._**

**_"You should talk to him," I looked at Rose, blinking innocently, and pretending that I had no clue what she was asking me, "I mean properly, about what that Dalek said to him," I folded my arms, "Oh come, don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about, don't tell me you're not annoyed when that Cathica woman is flirting with him,"_**

**_"That's neither here nor there," I answered._**

**_..._**

**_"So what?" I shrugged as far as the manacles would allow me to, "You're going to stand and talk to us about how your plan is going ever so well, while a mountain of fat and flesh wriggles over our heads, and we're expected to just accept this as fact?"_**

**_"Not helping," Rose informed me._**

**_"Next time, we aim for spaceship, not space station,"_**


	31. The Long Game: Part 1

**So, onto the Long Game, not my favourite of episodes, I have to say...Meh, let's blame Adam for that. But then we have Father's Day after that. Lots of emotion there. Shouting...laughing...crying, all that and more.**

**To the five wonderful people that reviewed, you're wonderful, and you should know it. I've probably said it before, but you really are. The fact that people actually like this story inspires me so much more.**

**Disclaimer: Never mine, although I do want to know when the new series is being broadcasted. It's been far too long.**

* * *

The Long Game: Part One

The TARDIS ground to a halt, "Right," the Doctor grinned at us, "Adam, you wait here, Rose, Mary-Anne outside with me, we need to make sure that we haven't landed in the completely wrong place. It's been known to happen," I scoffed, before following him out. Instantly I unzipped my jacket, tying it around my waist. The place was boiling, like being on a beach in the Mediterranean, only indoors and no breeze, "Right, it's the year two hundred thousand, it's a spaceship," he shot a look at me and I grinned back, "Hold on..." he paused, "Space station. Sorry, Mary-Anne, better luck next time," I merely looked around the room, apart from being ridiculously hot it also was very cluttered, with large containers in the middle of the room which had a large 133 stamped above us, "Oh, and try that gate there," the Doctor pointed to a tiny gate.

"The year two hundred thousand?" Rose asked and the Doctor nodded, folding his arms and leaning back against the TARDIS, "Right, you two stay there. I'll go and get Adam," she opened the door, half stepping in before looking back at us, "You know, I could get used to this. Rose Tyler, Intergalactic Guide, it has a nice ring to it. Anything's better than being a salesperson at least. So long as you tell me what to say," She went into the TARDIS calling, "Adam, out you come,"

I folded my arms, perching on a box, "She likes bossing people around," I told him, grinning at him, "Takes after Mum like that, but she's not too overbearing. She'll be telling you how to take your tea in a couple of days. Still, one can't argue, she's very good when we're in danger, no one can argue with that diagnosis. Saved our lives several times already. I owe her a drink," the Doctor grimaced a little, and I pulled at my blouse that I was wearing, sweat already threatening to overcome me, "Blimey...this space station you've sent us to isn't half warm, going to have to find several bottles of water if we're not too careful. Warm weather always makes me fall asleep,"

"I'm sure it will get cooler when we get further downstairs," he informed me, before grinning widely at me, "Oh, you're going to love this time, Mary-Anne, there's so much to do, so much to see. History at its most perfect, nothing terrible going on throughout it, a few natural disasters but very few problems. It's a great year to be human, and..." he checked his watch, "Nothing massively imminent in history to contend with. We can sit back, and enjoy the sights," I shared his smile, watching him talk, "Oh you're going to love it,"

"Sounds good already," I said, swinging my legs, "At least that means that we won't be attacked by anything deciding that we shouldn't be here, or shouldn't be alive or...anything like that," I frowned at the TARDIS, "Won't anyone think it's a little odd that you've got a massive blue box parked in the corner, it's not that hidden,"

"Don't worry about it," he replied, "People never can see what is right in front of them, always tripping over steps, not reading signs, and never noticing odd blue boxes that are parked in the corners of places. No one will notice it," I nodded, accepting his explanation, "Not everyone can see as clearly as you can,"

"That's always good to know," I smiled back at him.

Adam came out of the TARDIS, his mouth hanging open at the sight of the space station, "Oh my God," he said at his surroundings. I have to say that even with a trip in the TARDIS, Adam still wouldn't be my favourite person in the whole world...well third. The Doctor was quickly filling that position, and Rose would have to get second place by rights, but the principle still applied. At the moment, I would rather take Mickey the Idiot in the TARDIS than Adam, and that was surprise, considering how well Mickey and I got on together, "Where are we?"

"Don't worry about feeling a little weird, you'll get used to it," Rose advised him, and I shifted slightly with a faint unease. I didn't think that Adam would last a terribly long in the TARDIS, and that wasn't from a feeling I had, it was from judging the Doctor's expression, but maybe that was because Adam was another bloke. Boys and being possessive over their motors and Adam hadn't exactly remarked on how impressive it was. Either way, it seemed that it was still the same with time travelling aliens, "Where are we?" my sister continued, "That's a good question, judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year two hundred thousand," I chuckled at her confidence, "If you listen...engines, we're on some sort of a space station, yeah," she nodded, "Definitely a space station," she pulled at her jacket, "It's a bit hot in here, they could turn the heating down a bit," she pointed towards the grate, "Tell you what, let's try that gate over there," she pranced over to it, "Come on,"

Adam followed after her like a lost puppy with the Doctor and me following slowly, "I said she was good at this type of thing," I said to the Doctor, shrugging lightly, "Rose could lie blindly to a politician and they wouldn't be able to catch her out. Very good when we've been in a tight spot, mainly underage drinking," I looked at him suddenly, "But you didn't hear that from me," I hopped into the gate, straightening up to see the most spectacular sight in front of me.

It was Earth, but a futuristic Earth. The surface was covered in buildings, extraordinarily high, and shining in the light from the sun. It was certainly nothing like I had ever seen, and possibly something that I would ever see again. I pulled out my camera from my pocket, taking a quick picture, earning a look from the Doctor. I merely retorted by taking a photo of him, and grinning at the expression that he had on his face. Who else would see these photos? Apart from maybe Mum and Mickey. I wanted to remember every single moment of my time with the Doctor, for however long it took.

"And this is," Rose started, before trailing off, clearly as taken with the wondrous view as me. It truly was spectacular, and perhaps the most incredible place so far. It outstripped Platform One and the sun expanding, even with this view, and I had seen the Earth exploding, "Well..." she smiled at Adam, "I'll let the Doctor describe this bit. I couldn't do it justice. It's just so beautiful," she turned to the Doctor, "You want to fire away? Explain what this is?"

The Doctor moved forward, "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire," he replied, and I whistled softly. That was impressive. I mean, one human empire was impressive, but four was extremely outstanding. Who knew that we were capable of doing all of this? And back with Mum, I had still sometimes had to use dial-up on my laptop. Clearly things would change from that, "And there it is. Planet Earth at its height," So it was Earth. I took a quick photo of Rose's open mouth. That was a photo worth keeping, "It's covered in megacities, five moons, the population ninety six billion," so just a few more than the six billion in the twenty first century then, "Planet Earth is the hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species, with mankind right in the middle," I just took it all in, this was so much more than what I had expected from humanity.

There was a suddenly a girlish sigh behind us, before a soft thump as Adam collapsed to the ground. Neither Rose, the Doctor or me turned around, resolute in looking at the sight in front of us. I tried to keep a straight face, but couldn't help but burst out into laughter, "He's your boyfriend," I told Rose, and she folded her arms, annoyed.

"Not anymore, he isn't," she answered firmly, before looking over her shoulder at the collapsed genius, "I didn't faint when I saw the end of the world," she grumbled, walking over to him, shaking him, "Wake up Adam," she cooed at him, before looking over at me, "What if I slapped him?" I turned around immediately to see that. She frowned at me, "You don't like him!" I didn't feel like apologising for that, "I'm not going to slap him," she shook him again, and Adam gradually came to, "You all right?"

"Fine," he stood up quickly, and I turned away in order to make sure he didn't see my smile, "It's just a lot to take in all at once," he stared at the scene again, his mouth open like a goldfish and couldn't help but take a photo of him, "Oi," he glowered at me, and I smiled sweetly, "I don't like it when people take pictures of me,"

I shrugged, not bothered by his tone, "I don't like it when people press the bell more than once when travelling on a big red bus," I informed him blithely, moving to stand next to the Doctor, "But we can't always get what we want. The world's an imperfect place, and people will continue to press the bell more than once," I discreetly showed the Doctor the photograph of Adam, "Are we intending on finding civilisation on this trip?" Adam turned around, stalking back through the gate, "Was it something I said?"

Rose rolled her eyes, following Adam out of the gate. The Doctor looked down at me, "The bell on the public transport buses annoy you?" he asked, as we drifted towards the gate. I turned around to look at the view once more before disappearing through it, "The bell annoys you?"

"No," I corrected, "People pressing it more than once annoys me, it's a pet hate," I pocketed the camera, "If we are going to find people then I think that a camera from the twenty first century is a little conspicuous," I grinned at him, "This is probably the best place ever. Stuff spaceships, this is so much better," we quickly caught up to Rose and Adam, who were standing around the empty room, "Now that we've seen the view, what else is good about this time period, Doctor?"

"Oh," the Doctor looked around, "You're going to love this. It's a fantastic period of history, the Human Race at its most intelligent. Culture! Art! Politics!" I wrinkled my nose at that, "Nice politicians," he added seeing my face, before continuing on, "But this era, it's got fine cuisine, the great philosophers, good manners, the works..." all of a sudden people started pouring into the room, noisy people, loud people. And it didn't seem to be the height of manner or culture either. It rather reminded me of a very large fast food shop, complete with steam and hordes of people. I bent to look at the food from one of the booths that had just opened up. It didn't look like fine cuisine, and I shot a look at the Doctor which displayed that very clearly. He tapped his watch, looking disconcerted, "My watch must be wrong," he stared at it, as if it had betrayed him, "No, it's fine, that's weird,"

"Ahh," Rose grinned next to me, and I was roughly pushed past. Are we sure that it was the year two hundred thousand? SO much for nice manners, this couldn't be further from that particular sentiment, "That's what comes of showing off, Doctor," she informed him, "Your history's not as good as you thought it was,"

"My history's perfect," he retorted sharply, "And it's definitely the year two hundred thousand. It's weird; it should be the height of civilisation right about now. So what's this place? Definitely a space station at least, but what exactly..."

"Could be a factory," I proposed, fanning myself with my hand. With more people coming out onto the floor, the temperature had rocketed sky high and I certainly was feeling it, "Even in the year two hundred thousand there have to be sweatshops, even with all the paradise on Earth, there's always someone working till they drop from behind the scenes,"

"But they're all human," Adam said looking around and I frowned noticing he was right. That had completely skipped me by in the sudden onslaught of people pouring out of nowhere, "What about a million planets, a million species, where are all they?"

The Doctor placed his hands in his pockets, "Good question," he admitted, "Actually that is a good question," he suddenly grinned, placing his arm around Adam in a friendly way, a complete change to not five seconds before, "Adam, me old mate, you must be starving," Adam did look a little green around the gills, "You obviously need some grub," he raised his head to look at the man selling the odd locking food, "Oi mate, how much for a kronkburger?" the man must have replied, but I couldn't hear him next to the roar of sound around us, "Money, we need money," the Doctor announced, walking over to a futuristic ATM machine, and buzzing his sonic up against it, "Hold on," a thin grey metal pencil slid out, "Here you go," he handed it to Adam, "Pocket money, don't spend it all on sweets,"

Adam held it up, "How does it work?" he asked, and the Doctor sighed, instantly becoming slightly annoyed with the constant stream of questions from the other man. I couldn't remember whether I had asked him lots of question, it had been slightly overshadowed by the Earth blowing up, but I must have done.

The Doctor turned around, "Go and find out, stop nagging me," he told Adam, "The thing is, Adam, that time travel is just like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself into it, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers," I frowned at him, what kind of trip to Paris had he been on? When I had gone to Paris, it was all coach journeys and getting lost in the Louvre, "But that's probably just me," he finished, before shooing Adam off, "Stop asking questions and just do it,"

I laughed slightly as Adam wandered completely off towards the food place. I looked at Rose, "Go on then, he's your boyfriend," I teased her slightly, "It's your first date in the year two hundred thousand, you'll have a lot of interesting food to choose from,"

"You're going to get a slap, you are," she retorted, grinning at me, "Don't wander off, either of you," I made a slight salute and she walked away, catching Adam up in the queue for the food. I wasn't hungry, and I didn't particularly feel like crashing their date.

I turned to look at the Doctor, who's smile had instantly dropped, and was looking around him suspiciously, "You know when you get that face," I started to him, "I always think that in a matter of minutes, I'm going to end up hanging upside down by some alien. You've got that noticing face on, the one that says that something's wrong about this whole place. So...what is it? Also when did you go to Paris?" I added, "Your trip sounds a little different to mine,"

"1751," he told me and I nodded slowly. A little different to when I went I went to Paris, little less than three hundred years earlier than me, "Paris is a completely different planet," he dismissed, "And this place is wrong," he drew an arm around my shoulders as we walked amongst the people, "Can't you see it? How wrong everything is?"

"Other than the fact that you said that this was the year two hundred thousand and this is the height of human civilisation," I replied, "Not really..." I looked at him, before sighing, "All right, something's wrong, and you want to find out what has happened," he nodded, "I'm on your wavelength, but we kind of need to find out where exactly we are. Rose is off with Adam..." I looked behind me to see the two sitting at a table eating something, "Just you and me this time," he grinned, "Oh good,"

"Good," he agreed.

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**I was writing this on the train, so I apologise in advance if there were any spelling mistakes. Seeing as the Ipad doesn't recognise 'Dalek' I don't hold out much hope for its future.**

**As stated above, reviews inspire me so much, and I love to hear what people think about my writing, or even your expectations for the future episodes. You might have an idea that has never occurred to me before and is so much better than what's inside my head, so tell me.**

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**See you tomorrow...and I know this as fact because I've already written the chapter...Sshh :-)**


	32. The Long Game: Part 2

**Told you I would be back... And with a longer chapter than usual. Not that it was by design. It just grew and grew. Mainly because I have an aversion to single lines, except at the very end.**

**And you guys are amazing, I love all your reviews. And we're getting close to that very big number, which actually scares me a little, because it's so big. And we're only on the seventh episode as well.**

**grapejuice101- I'm surprised with my own speed actually. Comes from sitting on a great many trains.**

**sashaxh- There might be a reason for that...Shh. :-)**

**sailormanjinmoon- The chapter is here!**

**DragonRose4- Hello for just joining! Wonderful to have you with us!**

**Shaybo27- I wish that they could do a Star Trek like episode as well, so I live in hope. Still I hear something about dinosaurs on a spaceship floating around so maybe that hope isn't lost just yet.**

**TheGirlWhoImagined- I'm still playing around with the ending of Series One. I've got a faint idea, but still got some technical bits to hammer out. And of course I could completely change my mind. And Captain Jack...I can't wait to write. He's fantastic.**

**Disclaimer: Never mine...sigh.**

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The Long Game: Part 2

We wandered around the floor a little, seeing the same thing as we had earlier. People pushing, shoving each other to get to the front of the queue, people eating out of boxes, and people always rushing everywhere. It was far from the paradise that the Doctor had described when we had looked out onto the Earth down below. The Doctor was very agitated about the fact that something had gone wrong in the course of history that what we were seeing now wasn't right, "If everything is wrong," I said to him as we circled the floor yet again, "Shouldn't the whole universe implode or something," he looked down at me, "Well it's like the Gelth in Cardiff, there weren't any corpses running around in the twentieth century. Isn't this the same?"

"Time can be rewritten," he explained, "Well, most bits of time can be rewritten; there are great big chunks of time that can never ever be changed. Like Pompeii, nothing can change Pompeii, not even us in the TARDIS. If you change a fixed point then the whole world fractures around you, which isn't good any way you look at it. The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire isn't a fixed point which means that something or someone can change it, which is what appears to be happening here, and I want to find out how,"

"Well, we better start getting some answers then," I grinned at him, before walking over to two women that were chatting alone. They were dressed in vaguely recognisable business suits so I figured that they knew at least something of importance, "Hello," they turned to me, "Sorry, this is going to sound strange to you, but where are we exactly?" they stared at me, and I sighed, knowing that there was a giant number above me, "Right, I know we're on Floor 139, but I was hoping for something a little more specific than a floor number, what space station are we on?"

"That must have been one hell of a party last night," the first one said to me, folding her arms and studying me carefully. She was dressed in a black suit, and held herself as if she were more superior than everyone else in the room. Clearly she was some sort of management type person, my boss in my old job used to be just like that. I merely shrugged at her, not really bothered about the accusation. Better for her to fill in the blanks for me then having to come up with a clever lie on the spot, "You're on Satellite Five,"

Because that made so much sense to me, that was almost as helpful as knowing that we were on Floor 139. This was going to be more difficult than I thought that it would originally be, "And if I were to say...if I were to just to mention or ask what on Earth is Satellite Five," I proposed to her, "Then what would you say to me?" they both just looked at me as if I were insane, and I sighed, "Look, me and my friend," I gestured to the Doctor, "We're stupid, so if you could just tell me where and what Satellite Five then we'll be very grateful,"

"Hold on," the second woman, a brown haired, slightly innocent looking woman, older than me, "Wait a minute," I panicked slightly at that, did they have some way of knowing the truth by looking at someone. I knew nothing about this time, even allowing for the wibble in time that the Doctor insisted there was, "Are you a test? Both of you?" the Doctor smiled, digging his psychic paper out of his coat pocket, "One of those management test sort of things?"

"Well done," the Doctor nodded, holding the psychic paper up to show both of them, "Good guess, well done, you both are far too good for me," he pocketed the paper, "You'll have to forgive my colleague, she's new this week, she's still learning," I glared at him, and he smiled back at me. I'd show him learning. I folded my arms, sniffing at his expression; I wasn't going to thank him for that comment any time so, "But she is right, what is Satellite Five?"

The brown haired woman turned to the first one, "They warned us about this is basic training," she told her, her eyes wide. Maybe this was going to go better than I first thought, although I had a feeling that was because the Doctor was with me. Somehow everyone told him everything; it would be annoying if it wasn't so useful. He probably had one of those faces, I'd have to work on trying to get information out of people like that, "All workers have to be versed in company promotion," This was definitely going better than I first thought.

Almost instantly the other woman's body demeanour changed from suspicious and alert to relaxed and welcoming. Clearly this management test was something good for any worker to get, which made it easier for all us involved, "Well, all right then," she smiled widely at us, suddenly extremely well disposed towards us. I put it down to the Doctor's presence. If I had continued on my own then I probably would have been waved away, "Ask your questions, fire away. If it gets me to Floor 500, then I'll do anything,"

"Why what happens on Floor 500?" the Doctor asked her, and she grinned coyly up at him. I felt a brief flutter of annoyance when I saw that, before shaking it off. This wasn't the time to get annoyed over how people acted towards the Doctor, or even why I was feeling annoyed towards her because she was acting that way towards the Doctor. We were trying to find out something, not going out to have a drink with other people. I didn't even know the name of this woman; we had literally met only a few minutes ago.

The woman looked slightly confused, "The walls are made of gold," she informed him, and I let out a quiet breath. The walls were made of gold, that was slightly extravagant for a place that looked more like a factory than one else, "And you should know, Mr Management," she flirted lightly and that bust of annoyance erupted in my stomach again. She seemed to catch my slightly annoyed because she bustled immediately over to several television screens. I smiled at the other woman, she was rather nice, "So this is what we do," she gestured to first screen where there was what looked like a storm, "Latest news. Sandstorms on the New Venus Archipelago, two hundred dead," she moved on, "The Glasgow Water Riots are now in their third day..." things never changed on that position, "Space lane 77 has been closed by sunspot activity," she moved onto the final television, "And over on the Bad Wolf Channel, the Face of Boe has just announced that he's pregnant,"

I nudged the Doctor, "Seems like he's been having a fun time," I muttered and he grinned, "Although I suppose he hasn't met us just yet, has he? Five billion years in the future now," I noticed the woman staring at me, and I shuffled my feet, "So you broadcast the news, I get it," I said to her.

"We are the news," she corrected, "We're the journalists. We write it, package it and sell it. Six hundred channels all beaming out of Satellite Five, broadcasting absolutely everywhere. Nothing happens in the whole Human Empire without it going through us," That was slightly ominous, I mean that much power going through just one Satellite, even a huge satellite like this, that sounded like a recipe for disaster to me, and in the past few weeks, I was doing well with having disasters at every corner, "It's our job,"

"Sounds like an important job," the Doctor told her, and she smiled at him again, "So you're the people that are behind every little transmission," the woman nodded, "Do you mind if we tag along to your next shift? We'd both be very interested to see what you do here," I nodded, keeping quiet, "And I didn't get either of your two names,"

"I'm Cathica," the first woman said, "And this is Suki," she gestured to the other woman who waved a little, "And you can come along to any of our shifts, is it just you two?" I looked back at Rose and Adam who were chatting together on a table, Rose looking unusually worried for some reason, "You better tell them to get over here then, the bell is just about to go,"

"Oi, Mutt and Jeff!" the Doctor called towards them and they turned around to look at us, "Over here, and hurry up," Rose grinned picking up her cup, and walking over to us. Adam following after her at a slower pace, I guess he was still acclimatising to the whole place, "This is Cathica and Suki; they're going to be showing us around what they do," the bell suddenly blasted out a loud ringing noise, "Guess that's over...off we go," he followed Suki and Cathica over to a metal door.

I caught Rose by her arm, making sure we were walking a good way back from the rest of the group, "Why did you look worried when you were talking to Adam?" I asked her, and she looked away, "Come on, you can tell me, if it's something dangerous then we've got to know,"

"It's nothing dangerous," she pacified me, "It's just Adam, I don't think he's reacting well to the year two hundred thousand quite as well as we did in the year five billion," I raised an eyebrow, "I let him phone home, and he then said something about helping his dad who's got arthritis to a cure because they must have a cure now," I frowned at that, that didn't sound too good, "I'm sure it's nothing but I just hope Adam knows that he can't tell anyone about this. I mean...we didn't think about phoning Mum about the next week's lottery numbers or anything, you can't do that here,"

"Well, we were trying to save ourselves from burning alive," I replied and she gave me a look that clearly said that I knew what she meant, "Look Adam just needs to calm down, as long as he doesn't do anything stupid and if that ever happens then you'll be there to stop him," I clapped her on the back, "Nothing to worry about," I stepped into the room that the Doctor has disappeared into.

It was what you would expect from a futuristic space station. White walls were glowing with light; a circular port in the middle with hand prints all around the edge surrounded a large black chair. People were sitting in front of those ports so it didn't take a genius to figure out that they were going to put their hands to those prints. A large contraption hung from the ceiling reminding me faintly of operating theatres with people having surgery, "Right," Cathica stood next to the chair, as Rose, Adam, the Doctor and I leant on a railing away from the people, "Now everyone behave, we have a management inspection," she looked over her shoulder at us, "How do you want it?" she inquired, "By the book?"

"Oh right from scratch, thanks," the Doctor told her and I leaned forward watching for what they were about to do.

"Okay, so, ladies, gentlemen, multisex, undecided or robot, my name is Cathica Santini Khadeni," she looked over at us, "That's Cathica with a C, just in case you want to write to Floor 500, praising me, and please do," I shared a look with Rose who looked more interested in my reaction than I would have liked, "Now, you're free to ask questions, the process of newsgathering must be open, honest and completely without bias, it's the company policy," she sat on the chair, "The infospike will begin in thirty seconds,"

"Just imagine it," the Doctor told us in a hushed whisper, "Even in your time there is a massive amount of news every single day, a flood in China, an assassination in Brazil..." he hesitated, "That skateboarding duck in Aberdeen," I laughed at that, "All of it has to be transmitted in some ways. Now this is a million planets, and a million species, there is just a sheer amount of it. Absolutely tonnes of it. And how do they gather it together? The infospike," he nodded to the contraption, "And every piece of news travels through it,"

Cathica lay down on the chair, relaxed, "Keep it calm now," she said, "Don't show off for the guests. Here we go," the chair tilted back, and she raised her fingers, "And engage safety," there was a whirring around the room, the walls glowing brighter with colour. The other people placed their hands to the ports, and Cathica clicked her fingers. I nearly fell forward in complete shock as the front of her head completely opened up, showing her brain. I made a slight disgusted noise, we could actually see through into her head, "And three, two, one. And spike!"

Light beamed down from the ceiling, streaming into where Cathica's brain had been showing. I stared, amazed. I mean it was pretty creepy, with the whole head opening thing, but it was also extremely fascinating. How many people could easily say that they had seen someone's brain...other than brain surgeons? Year Two Hundred Thousand, amazing, "That's compressed information," the Doctor pointed to it, "Streaming into her. Reports from every city, every country, every planet. Everything gets packed and packaged inside her head. She becomes part of the software, her brain is the computer. Amazing,"

"She has to be a genius," Rose stared at Cathica, as transfixed as I was at the whole procedure. There wasn't anything like it, "All that information, she must know loads of stuff. Every piece of news that is being broadcasted, she must know it,"

"Nah," the Doctor dismissed, "She wouldn't remember any of it, there's too much information there. Her head would blow up. Her brain is only the processor; as soon as it closes then she forgets it all. These people," he bent down next to the people around the edge, "They've all got tiny chips in their heads, connecting them to her, and they transmit! Six thousand channels beam out of this place, every single fact in the whole Empire. The power must be phenomenal,"

"Little creepy, isn't it?" I put forth and he turned to look at me, "Not her brain, although that is creepy in itself," I tilted my head, "But the fact that everything is controlled by this one big company, it's a little disconcerting really. There isn't some kind of free news then, it's all controlled here?"

"But the technology's amazing," Adam said, still staring at Cathica, not taking his eyes off her as if she would disappear if he looked away for just a second, "I mean we can see her brain, but it's incredible. I mean we have nothing like it, this is all so...brilliant,"

The Doctor shook his head, straightening up, "No," he corrected Adam, and I felt that sudden wave of adrenaline when he said that. There was only one reason why he would say that when Adam mentioned the technology. Only one very good reason for him saying that, "This technology is wrong,"

"See, I knew that you were going to say that," I pointed at the Doctor, immediately after he said that, before grinning. So maybe I was for some excitement on this trip, "Did anyone know he was going to say that?" Rose merely smiled at me, "There's trouble here, and we're going to find it,"

"Oh yes," the Doctor leaned on the rail next to me, "We're going to find it," I bounced slightly on the balls of my feet, "So long as you don't wander off anywhere," I smiled up at him, seeing Adam stare at all of us as if we were mad, "They should have thrown all of this out years ago, it would certainly explain the conditions outside certainly, and why my watch isn't wrong,"

Suki suddenly twitched violently, before pulling her hands off the port, clutching her hand. Immediately all of the other people lifted their hands away and the light stopped shining into Cathica's head, the hole in her head closing. She sat up, glaring at Suki, "Oh come off it, Suki," she said to the other woman, "I was only half way done," Suki merely apologised, clutching her hand tightly. There was a sudden humming noise from the computer behind us and we all turned around to see a flashing notice saying PROMOTION, "Oh here we go," Cathica stood up straight, her hands clenched together, "This is it, say my name; say my name! Make it me, make it me!" the name SUKI MACRAE CANTRELL appeared on the screen, prompting a scream from the other woman, "How the hell did you get that?" Cathica demanded, "I'm above you!"

Clearly she was resenting that fact, "I don't know," Suki gushed out, standing up and moving towards the screen clearly incredibly shocked, "I just applied on the off chance," her face broke out into a smile, "And they've said yes!"

"Floor 500 has walls made of gold," I muttered to Rose who frowned at me, clearly wondering at that, "Yeah, that's what I thought," I shrugged, "Clearly it's a big thing around these parts, although if it's as hot as here then I think I'd miss it out,"

"Come on," she pulled me to the door, and out into the large and now empty canteen area, "Everything's all going on there, but I need to talk to you," she sat me down on a chair, pulling up another one, "Seeing as the Doctor is currently busy, I finally get you on your own," I opened my mouth, "And being chased by a Dalek doesn't count, even if it tried to kill you," I leaned back, "You should talk to him," I looked at Rose, blinking innocently, and pretending that I had no clue what she was on about, "I mean properly...about what the Dalek said to him," I folded my arms, "Oh come on, don't pretend that you don't know what I'm talking about, don't tell me that you're not annoyed when that Cathica woman is flirting with him,"

"That's neither here nor there," I answered, avoiding the question somewhat neatly I thought, but by the expression on my sister's face she wasn't going to let it go so easily, "What do you want me to say?" I asked her, "I'm not as good as this as you clearly are," she rolled her eyes, "He mentioned it and then said think on it," I sat back, "What does that mean? Think on it? My relationships have never worked out well before, so I remain actually completely in the dark about this,"

"Well it definitely means that he's interested," she replied, and I ran a hand through my hair, "Have you ever talked about anything like that?" I shifted uneasily, "Tell me everything," I raised an eyebrow at her sudden interest, "You're my baby sister, I have to look out for your emotional welfare,"

I wasn't fooled, "No, you want leverage against me," she looked hurt, "Don't look like that," I relented, "Fine...there's more," she patted my knee in anticipation, "We've talked about me getting into trouble, he doesn't like if I'm in dangerous situation although he did admit that he was too selfish to send me home," I smiled distantly, and she waved her hand in front of me, "Oh," I swallowed, shrugging, "That's about it," I made to stand but she dragged me down, "It's really the third degree with you today. Are you missing Mickey?"

"A little," she admitted, before leaning towards me, "But I want to know what you were going to say. You're my only sister, who else am I going to do this with? Mum?" I chuckled slightly, "What did he say to you that made you so bloody happy?"

"Oh, that there are some people that you think are like all the rest, and then they do something that makes everything change, and it doesn't matter what you thought before, but everything has changed," I laughed to myself, rocking the chair slightly, "Everything has colour," I caught Rose's amused look, "What did I say?"

"Oh you like him," she said to me, "You like him a lot more than you care to admit," I folded my arms, looking away from her, "Oh you so do," I felt my face growing red, and she stood up, "And for what it's worth, I know he likes you a lot as well so you might want to act on that, and stop worrying about Cathica. She just wants a promotion," she walked over to where Adam was, and I sat on the table for a second thinking to myself. Well if all that I had achieved with that talk was about a month's teasing from Rose and her acceptance, then I suppose it was worth it. I pulled out my camera, snapping a quick picture of the group by the lift, which made me feel better. I need to sort through all my emotions at the moment.

"You all right?" I jumped about a mile when the Doctor's voice came in front of me, "You were off in your own little world for a moment, Suki's just about to go," I nodded, standing up, and placing my camera in my pocket, "What were you talking to Rose about?"

"Oh just something she noticed," I bluffed badly, "Adam's not acclimatising well to everything and Rose is missing Mickey a little bit, although I don't know why, and you say everything has gone wibbly with time and there's a woman with a door in her head," he hugged me tightly, and I breathed in, he smelled like rain after a thunderstorm. I smiled into his leather jacket, "You're very good at this hugging business," I said slightly muffled.

"Like I said, you should think on it," he replied, before placing an arm around me, and we started walking towards the elevator, "When you have let me know," I smiled at that as we reached Suki and Cathica. I knew what he meant now. Think about what I wanted to happen, if I wanted to move forward then we could, but also if I didn't then he wouldn't push me. He was allowing me to choose in my own time. Which meant that I had a lot to think about.

"Thank you," Suki said to us, before picking up an envelope that was addressed to her, "This is it, I've got it," she opened it to show a key with a gold tab, "It's a key to the lift, it's really happening. I'm on 500!" she looked over the moon, "Oh my God! I've got to go, I can't keep them waiting," she rushed into the lift, "Say goodbye to Steve for me," she called at Cathica, before the doors shut on her.

Cathica snorted slightly, "Good riddance," she muttered and I frowned at her.

"She's only going upstairs," the Doctor said to her, also frowning at the reaction that Cathica had just expressed. Clearly he had noticed that it was rather odd as well. Suki would be back downstairs again soon enough, "You're talking as if you'll never see her again,"

"We won't," Cathica answered, "Once you go to Floor 500 then you never come back," we both stared at her, "Floor 500 is editorial, marble toilets, double beds, fifteen different menus and all the big decisions," she shrugged, "Paradise to all of us working here. And you can't get up there without a key for the lift, and the key comes with a promotion. No one gets to 500, except the chosen few,"

Perhaps that decision making that I had to do ought to be put on hold for a few minutes.

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**For all that I don't like this episode terribly much, I however do like the ending that I've written. What's the ending, you ask. Well...it has to be read not told. **

**Your reviews are like my air.**

******I also love how most of you hate Adam...**


	33. The Long Game: Part 3

**I'm on a hundred and three reviews...when did this happen? All of you that have reviewed are absolutely amazing. Now I just have to go and find out what exactly one does with that many reviews. Keep on writing most likely. Which is good because here's a new chapter. All brand new and squeaky clean.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned Doctor Who, I would have known the air date of Series 7 by now. Seeing as I don't know it...I don't own it.**

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The Long Game: Part 3

Rose quickly rejoined us as we followed Cathica back into the infospike room, "Adam's just calming down," she told me and I raised my eyebrows, "I think he doesn't really accept this place, he's a bit out of his depth, but I suppose he'll get used to it eventually. I hope that he'll get used to it quickly, I gave him my TARDIS key if he wants to settle down in there, but he said that it's weird in there," she looked a bit put out, "What is it with men that can't accept things. Mickey wouldn't come along with us, Adam's a little useless. I'm feeling very left out here,"

"Don't be," I walked along, "You still have me," she made a face, "Well don't say that I didn't try, Rose," I teased her, before pulling at my blouse again, feeling just slightly irritated at the prickle of heat on the nape of my neck, eyeing her, and seeing as her jacket was zipped nearly to the top. She was insane wearing that at the moment, "But I really do have to say that this heat is really getting to me, why don't you take your jacket off? You must be sweltering in it,"

"I'm fine," she answered and I raised my eyebrows, as we walked into the glowing white room again, "Do you think she's going to open her head again?" she whispered under her breathe to me, "Because I'm going to step outside if she does open it again, that's one thing that I'm not altogether used to yet," I merely patted her on the arm, before jumping up to sit on the metal railing, watching the Doctor pelt questions at Cathica. Just from the sheer amount of questions that he was asking it was clear that he was seriously thinking about the shift in time.

"Look," Cathica turned around to look at him, "They only give us twenty minutes for maintenance, can't you give it a rest with all these questions?" the Doctor sat in the black chair, looking at her. She relented, "Look, I went to Floor 16 when I arrived, that's Medical, that's when I got my head chipped," she gestured to her forehead, "And then I came straight here. In Satellite Five you work, eat and sleep on the same floor, and that's it, that's all," she seemed to realise something, "You're not management, are you?"

Had it really taken her that long to work it out? I would have thought that she ought to have known that as soon as the Doctor had started asking her questions after Suki had gone, disappeared up to Floor 500, which if I was being truly honest with myself, probably wasn't as good as Cathica made it out to be, "At last," the Doctor clapped his hand slowly, the sarcasm incredibly obvious in his voice, "She's finally clever. No we're not management, we were travelling through. Now," he looked at her, "Why is all the crew human? Or don't you ask?

"What's that got to do with anything?" she demanded and the Doctor looked at her, "I don't know," she shrugged, and I looked at the Doctor. I had to know his secret of getting people to just tell their secrets to him. It probably only worked with him though. He just had that face, "They're not banned or anything, but I suppose that immigration's tightened up over the years, it's had to with all the threats, and then the price of space warp doubled, so that kept the visitors away. Oh and the government collapsed on Chavic Five, so that lot stopped coming," she was getting worked up over the question, "Just little things, you know, not important reasons or anything, just bits and pieces,"

"All adding up to one great big fact that none of you can see," the Doctor finished for her and she looked sceptical, "None of you have noticed, well that's humans all over," he looked over at Rose and me, "Well, most humans that is,"

Cathica put the clipboard that she was holding down, "Look Doctor, if there was some kind of conspiracy against Satellite Five then we would be able to see it," she smiled, "We see everything in this Empire. Nothing gets past us. Not the news or the facts. We process absolutely everything and there is nothing there,"

"I can see better," the Doctor stated to her, and she rolled her eyes, "This society is the wrong shape, even the technology is backward. There's a great big door in your head which you should have chucked out years ago! And it's not just this space station; it's the attitude of the people, the way that they think," he leaned back in the chair, "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire is stunted, there is something that is holding you all back," Cathica opened her mouth, "Please, trust me. Humanity's been set back around ninety years," he looked thoughtful, "When did Satellite Five start transmitting?"

Cathica was silent for a very long time, "Ninety one years ago," she answered and the Doctor nodded, satisfied with his maths, "But Satellite Five has nothing to do with anything. We just make the news and that's it. We haven't covered up anything; anyone can access our archives,"

"Well maybe you haven't covered anything up," I suggested, "But it doesn't mean that things aren't being changed or anything," I swung my legs on the barrier, "Like you said, everything beams out of here, the election results, the speculation of something in someone's life. If one company controls all the media then there's only one viewpoint being portrayed. And if you only have one viewpoint to listen to then it's more likely that you will listen to that one little viewpoint,"

"Satellite Five is one hundred percent honest and free of bias," she immediately retorted, "It's law that you have to make sure that everything is free, open and without biased. We're not manipulating the facts to suit anyone. It's the law,"

"Well someone didn't get the memo," the Doctor answered, "This whole society is out of shape. Time is being rewritten to suit someone's interests, and not a single person has noticed. Probably due to those chips that you've got in your head," I rubbed my forehead self consciously, before puffing out a large breath, feeling ridiculously woozy, "Take my word for it, nothing in Satellite Five is what it is supposed to be celebrating your most successful years. This is the Golden Age of the Empire. Instead you're stuck inside floors, living like you're still in the Fifth Dark Ages. Everything is all..." he looked over at me, and I grinned, "...Wibbly," he finished with a sigh, "And Floor 500 is only the start of this," he jumped up, "And I know how to sort this," he left the room quickly.

"I hate it when he does that," Rose said, hopping off the railing, "It's like he knows just how to make sure things stay interesting," she looked at Cathica, "Are you coming along or do you want to stay here and make sure that you never ask anything," I waved at her slightly as we exited the room, seeing the Doctor over by a maintenance hatch, already buzzing it with his sonic screwdriver, "You know you shouldn't be afraid to tell him how you feel," I looked at her sharply, "He's not going to hurt you,"

I shifted uncomfortably, "You know that my track history isn't very good with telling people things," I said to her, "Last time I told someone that I liked them a lot...well it didn't turn out too well, if you care to remember?" she merely shrugged, "That was a misstep on my part, I'm not going to make the same mistake again. I'm going to think things through first,"

"Sometimes you have got to just dive head in with these things," she answered, "Don't analyse it, just go with the flow," I snorted at the use of that phrase, "You know how Mickey and I ended up. We'd liked each other for ages but only got together when he suddenly kissed me under the mistletoe. I didn't even know that he liked me," she shrugged, "Don't think about it, do what you feel it right, and everything will turn out the way it should be,"

"I'm getting relationship advice from my older sister," I rubbed my temples, "The world must be ending," I pointed a finger at her, "As long as you don't ring up Mum and tell her all about this," she put on an innocent face, "Don't look like that," I warned her, "I know that you would do something like that and I'd get a phone call, asking me all these questions that I don't know the answer to and then you'll get questions that you don't know the answer to so no ringing Mum...ever,"

She grinned at me, and I turned towards where the Doctor was, and suddenly seeing a man reflected in the silver metal of the walls. I turned around immediately, only to find that there wasn't anyone else there. Weird, I could have sworn that there had been a person standing just behind me. I shook my head, I must have been just seeing things and bounded over to where the Doctor is and was immediately handed a metal grate, "Having fun then?"

"I need to get access to the computer," he explained, unravelling bits of cable in the walls, "I need to find out the layout of this building," he looked over his shoulder at Cathica, "Hello again, you've decided to join our ragtag crew then," he grinned, "Isn't this much better than doing whatever you were doing back there," he found the other end of the cable, "You see time has gone, as Mary-Anne has so delightfully put it, wibbly, and although you can rewrite time, I rather liked it the way it was. And there's only one place that can tell us how exactly this world has changed,"

Rose perked up, "The archives," she replied, and he dumped some wiring in her arms, "Thank you, Doctor," she dropped it by a box, before straightening up, "So you're trying to break your way into the computer than runs this place to find out why time has gone..." she looked at me, and I blinked expectantly, "Wibbly. Are you sure that's a technical term?"

"No better than some that I've heard," I retorted, poking my head in the large hole that the Doctor had created, "And it makes sense if you think about it very carefully," the wires were glowing blue, "What do you think, Cathica?" I looked at the woman, "Wibbly is a good word, isn't it?"

The journalist was looking around, extremely worried, "We're so going to get into trouble for this," she muttered, pacing wildly around. Maybe her limits had been stretched too much today, she was still stuck on how everything was perfectly fine in the whole Empire, "You're not supposed to touch the mainframe, we get told off if we do,"

"Mary-Anne, tell Cathica to button it," the Doctor said to me, "I'm trying to do something that is very technical and very, very important in the future, possibly," he ripped out a chunk of a wire, and Cathica made a sound of frustration, "Please tell her, I'm getting irritated,"

"You can't just vandalise the place!" she exclaimed, waving her hands around, "Someone's going to notice and then they'll tell me off," I rolled my eyes, before sitting down on the box next to the mainframe, "There are security cameras all around this place," I looked up to see that a camera was pointed directly at us, "And they'll find out who we all are and then get fired or demoted, and I don't want that to happen to me. You might just be wandering through but I live and work here. I don't want to get into trouble. This has nothing to do with me; I'm going back to work,"

"Go on then," the Doctor turned around and waved her off, "See you; hope you don't get into any more trouble. Have a nice life," he continued pointing his sonic screwdriver at the cables, "Although what kind of a life is waiting for you is quite debateable," he muttered under his breath.

Cathica threw her hands up in the air but didn't move from the corridor, "If you want to be useful," Rose said to her, "Get them to turn the heating down, it's boiling in here," I looked at her jacket, faintly wondering why she didn't actually take it off? It would be a lot more cooler if she did, "What's wrong with the place? Can't they do anything about it? It's like living in a permanent sauna; I'm surprised you don't all get heatstroke from it,"

"We keep asking," Cathica waved a hand, "They keep telling us that they can't do anything about it, it's something to do with the turbines, they aren't reacting properly and the space station is too big for the whole place to be kept cool," the Doctor snorted with derision, "Well I don't know!"

"Exactly!" the Doctor said exasperated, turning towards her, "I give up on you Cathica. Now Rose," he jabbed his screwdriver in the direction of Rose, "Rose is asking the right type of questions," my sister smiled smugly, "Why is it so hot?!"

I frowned, "I do have to agree to that," I yawned slightly, "It is boiling," I rested my cheek on my hand, "I'm sweating like mad in here, you still owe me that drink," I looked over to where he was standing, still fiddling with the pipes and wires, "And you're interested in the plumbing? How is that going to help solve this?"

"Plumbing is important, Mary-Anne," he replied happily, buzzing away with the sonic screwdriver, "Never ever underestimate plumbing. It's what makes the world go around. Some worlds literally only survive on the plumbing," there was a loud spark, "Gotcha...!" he pulled out a screen, "Here we go, Satellite Five, pipes and plumbing. Look out the layout," I stood up, seeing the picture of the space station on the screen,

"This is ridiculous," Cathica crowded around the screen, "You've got access to the computer's core, you could look at the archives, the news, the stock exchange," she turned to him, "And you're looking at the pipes?" When she said it like that, it did sound absolutely ridiculous, but there was always a point to the Doctor's action, "Although..." Ahh there it was, "The ventilation system, cooling ducts, ice filters, all working flat out," she looked at the ceiling, "They're channelling massive amounts of heat downwards, all the way from Floor 500,"

I chuckled slightly, "Floor 500?" I said, "I don't know about the rest of you but I think we're missing out on quite a get together up there. The walls are made of gold, you never see the people that are promoted up there, and they somehow seem to be producing lots and lots of heat," I grinned at the Doctor, "Perhaps a trip up there would be in order, or do we need a key?"

"Well keys are just codes, and I have the codes," he typed in rapidly, "Right here..." a number came scrolling up, "Here we go, bypass code, two point one five...nine," I smiled as the code came up, "Someone up there likes me, only reason why it's not putting much of a fight against me," he looked at the camera, "Someone's interested," he dropped the screen, "Come along, you two," he grabbed my hand pulling me along to the elevator, "So long Cathica, don't suppose you want to come with us?"

"No way!" the woman retorted, "You only get once shot at Floor 500 and when I go up there, I'm going to do it properly, as a proper journalist,"

"No offence," the Doctor said, "But calling yourself a journalist is like an abacus calling itself a mathematician," That was putting a whole new spin on the phrase 'no offence', "See ya!" Cathica walked off, and the Doctor look at both of us, "So that's her gone, Adam's disappeared, looks like it's just us three again,"

"Good," I answered, as the door shut firmly, and the elevator rose quickly, the numbers spinning continuously. I shivered slightly, "It isn't getting half cold," I pulled my jacket on, rubbing my arms slightly as the doors opened on freezing ice, "This is a change in temperature," I noted.

"The walls aren't made of gold," we all ventured inside the floor. Snow lay thickly on the ground, ice sliding over every surface. Well at least we now knew what the turbines were being used for, "You both should head back downstairs,"

"Tough," I zipped my jacket up to the top, walking out onto the floor, "We're sticking together,"

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**I think I'm officially half way through this story...well with the Ninth Doctor anyway, and it's a real pity that Christpher Eccleston didn't stay on another series. Would have been interesting to see what would have happened. But then, of course, we might not have had Tennant, and that would have been even more of a pity. I'm rambling.**

**See you soon!**


	34. The Long Game: Part 4

**So the Long Game is nearly finished, and I have to say that I don't like this chapter. I don't know why, but I don't. Maybe it was the state of mind in which I wrote it.**

**TheGirlWhoImagined- I hope you get better soon. Being ill is a pain at the best of times. So here's another chapter to make you take your mind off things.**

**Disclaimer: Never mine.**

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The Long Game: Part 4

It was dark and cold on Floor 500 and I was starting to wish that the stories of it having walls made of gold were real because this place was a real...tip. We had found dead bodies in one room, looking like they had frozen to death while performing the infospike. Not a particularly nice way to go if one thought about it. And still there was more ice around the place, on the floors, on the walls, and proving to be quite a death trap. I had almost fallen over three times because of it. It seemed like there wasn't anyone else in this barren wasteland apart from us.

That theory was quickly proven wrong when we entered the next room, climbing up a few steps to see a man watching a large screen with information scrolling across it. There were others that were situated around the desks, but they didn't turn towards us. The man who I noticed on the way in, looked normal although he appeared to thrive in the cold conditions, and had shockingly blonde hair and sky blue eyes, "I started without you," he said lazily, clicking his fingers. The screens immediately changed information at his command, "Now you see, this is fascinating," he remarked, pointing at the screen, "Satellite Five contains every single piece of information within the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Birth certificates, shopping habits, bank statements, but you three..." he gestured towards us, "None of you exist," he stared at us, fascinated, "Not a trace. No birth, no job, not even the slightest kiss. How can you walk throughout the world and not leave a single footprint?"

Rose immediately ran forward to one of people sitting at a desk, "Suki?" she shook the woman and I saw that it was the brown haired woman that had been so friendly downstairs. But she looked drained, frosty even, not responding to Rose, "Suki? Hello?" my sister waved a hand in front of Suki's face, "Hello, can you hear me?" Suki didn't turn towards Rose, and I had a horrible feeling in my stomach, "What have you done to her?" she demanded to the man before looking at the Doctor, "What's happened to them?"

"I think they're dead," the Doctor answered, and my shoulders slumped slightly, another person dead and I didn't even know the others that were sitting at the other desks. We hadn't known Suki so very well but she had been nice from what I had seen of her, "But they're working as well. They've all got little chips in their heads, and even when they're dead, the chips keep going, working away. They're just like puppets, there's no signs of life in them at all,"

The man grinned, "Oh you're full of information!" he exclaimed, "But it's only fair that we get some information back in return because apparently all of you are no one," he grinned, "Oh and it's so rare to not know something," he clasped his hands together, looking at all three of us in turn, "I am the Editor. Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," the Doctor replied sharply, grasping my hand, "Because we're not hanging around for very much longer. We're off," he looked over at Rose, "Come on, Rose," he smiled tightly at the blonde haired man, "It was nice to meet you. See ya!" we turned to go instantly meeting resistance as we were both suddenly restrained by two dead men. Their hands were cold and clammy, making it obvious that they were dead, and it made me shudder slightly as a hand clenched around my wrist. Rose had been quickly subdued by the dead Suki, "I am not going to tell you who we are, seeing as that information is currently keeping all of us are alive, isn't it?"

The man laughed, "Well maybe, the Editor in Chief can convince you otherwise," all of us looked at him, confused, "Let me explain," he walked up to the Doctor who had been restrained by two dead men, "It may interest you that this is not the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire," he informed us and all of us frowned, "In fact," he laughed, "It's not actually human at all. This is a place merely where humans happened to live," there was a sudden snarling from around us and I struggled harder to get out of the grip I had found myself in, "Yeah...?" the man had placed a hand to his ear before nodding, "My apologies," he smiled, "It's a place where humans are allowed to live by kind permission of my client,"

He clicked his fingers before pointing upwards. Lights came on and I stared at what was embedded in the ceiling. It was like an upside down mountain, only red, and made of flesh. To put it plainly, there was a huge alien right above our heads, wiggling in that place where it appeared to have grown. It's teeth were long and sharp, practically fangs, and I really wasn't a fan of how close it was too our heads, "That's in charge of Satellite Five?" I heard myself say, still staring at the alien, "That thing is in charge of this whole space station? It's a lump of fat!"

The man looked affronted at my words, "That thing, as you so put it, is in charge of the human race," I looked at him as if he were a complete idiot, which really wasn't too far off the mark if one considered what he had been doing. Who in their right mind would put an alien that looked like that in charge of Satellite Five? "For almost a hundred years, mankind has been shaped and guided, its knowledge and ambition strictly controlled by its broadcast news," he stepped backwards, turning his palms up to the alien, "Edited by my superior, your master, and humanity's guiding light, the Mighty Jagrafess of the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe," That was rather a long name, "I call him Max," he added.

The Doctor merely smiled and nodded sarcastically at him. I still kept an eye on the Jagrafess thing above us, "I don't really care what it's called," I answered the Editor man, "It's still a mountain of flesh on a ceiling," I twisted to look at the Doctor as much as I could, "Is that the thing that's keeping everything so cold up here and everything boiling downstairs?" the Doctor nodded sharply, "Ok,"

"Oh she's clever this one," the Editor smiled at me, before shrugging, "Still it won't save you in the end," he clicked his fingers and more drones appeared, carrying a strange looking contraption, "Manacles!" the man said jubilantly, "Always so useful for so many reasons, but at this important moment in time, for all of you," I tried to fight away from the drones as my hands were clamped into the metal tightly, but their hands were unflinching, their grip almost painful and eventually we were all trapped in the machine, "That's better, isn't it?"

This man was starting to annoy me. It was one thing to try and kill us which appeared to be the trends in these trips with the Doctor, but it was a completely different thing to mentally torture us and try and get out information from us. He wasn't even in charge, that belonged the alien above us, "I'm sorry," I shrugged as far as the manacles would allow me to, "But is this where you're going to stand and talk to us about how your plan is going ever so well, while a mountain of fat and flesh wriggles over our heads, and we're supposed to accept this as fact?"

I felt Rose tread on my toes, and I winced slightly, "Not helping," she informed me in a low breath, "That thing will kill us if we're not careful,"

I closed my mouth tightly, but couldn't help but add to the Doctor, "Next time, we aim to land on a spaceship rather than space station," I murmured to him, "Who knows we might actually get some running to do on a spaceship rather than get manacled,"

"Maybe," he said, and I turned back to the Editor as the Doctor turned his words to the other man here, "So you got the Jagrafess here in Satellite Five, and you monitored every single piece of information over the years, changing it to suit what you needed at the right time in order for the Jagrafess to keep its control over humanity. Makes sure that they never question whatever goes on. There's no aliens on board because you changed the facts to make sure they didn't come and so lead you to find out what exactly was going on here,"

"Oh that was easy," the Editor sat on the edge of the desk, "If we create a climate of fear, then it's easy to keep the borders closed. It's really just a matter of emphasis," he waved a lazy hand, "The right word in the right broadcast repeated often enough can destabilise an economy...invent an enemy or change a vote,"

"So all those people down there on Earth," Rose said slowly, staring at the man, "All those species across the galaxies, a million planets; a million species, everyone that watches the news that beams out of this place. They're basically slaves to whatever you do? Because they don't know what you're going here,"

"Well..." the Editor smiled, "That is an interesting question that we should think long and hard about. Is a slave a slave if he doesn't know he's enslaved," the Doctor merely looked at him with an expression that clearly showed how much he thought about the question. And it wasn't very high, "Oh, is that all I'm going to get? I was hoping for a philosophical debate, but clearly not," he walked up to the Doctor, pouting rather childishly, "You're no fun,"

The Doctor held up his arms to look at the manacles, "You take these manacles off and I promise to show you how much fun I am," he said coldly at the man, almost bristling with anger at the Editor, "How did you manage to hide this from the whole of the Empire?"

"Oh you're touch, aren't you?" the man mocked him, "Come on, isn't it a great system? You've got to admire it, just a little bit," he held up his fingers, "A little? There's no warfare needed. No guns, no soldiers, and no blood. It's a slow and silent occupation. It's not only extremely effective but it's incredibly cheap as well," Rose, the Doctor and I just looked at him, not reacting to what he was saying to us, "None of you are any fun at all," he huffed, folding his arms, "As you wish. From time to time there is someone, yes, but the computer chip gives me access inside their heads. I can see the smallest doubt and crush it," I felt slightly revolted at what he was describing, "And so the people keep on living their lives, strutting around downstairs and all over the surface of the Earth, thinking that their so individual," he sighed, "When in fact they're just cattle. In that respect the Jagrafess has hardly changed a thing,"

"But what's it all for?" I asked him, "All of this...getting that thing up there," the alien roared and I grimaced slightly at the sight of it, "And why the human race. You're clearly human, so why would you help something that has basically imprisoned your own species,"

"Yeah well being human doesn't pay very well," he retorted and I couldn't help but sight at that. Was it always to do with money? Cassandra on Platform One had tried to kill all of us for money, and now this man was had enslaved a whole race for money. It was completely crazy, "And I represent a consortium of banks, the Jagrafess needed a hand to install itself as you can see, and well money prefers a long term investment. And Earth was expanding, people travelling to see the stars; the Jagrafessfold breeding grounds would have been next on the list of planets to be annexed into the Empire. My client prefers mankind small, and it's lifespan is three thousand years. Plenty of time to change things,"

"You're telling me," the Doctor said, "That's one hell of a metabolism, generating all that heat. That's why Satellite Five is so hot, you pump it out of the creature channel it downstairs. The Jagrafess stays cool and stays alive," I saw his eyes slide sideways just slightly, and I saw just out of the corner of my eye, Cathica was crouched down by the stairs listening to everything that we were saying to the Editor, "Satellite Five is just one great big life support system,"

"Oh, but that's why you three are so dangerous," the Editor told us, "Knowledge is power but you lot just remain unknown," he clicked his fingers again and I gasped in pain as the manacles produced what felt like an electrical charge. I tensed up, trying to ignore the pain but I flooded through me, "Now, who are you?"

Rose and the Doctor's manacles had done the same as mine, "Leave them alone," the Doctor ordered the Editor, "I'm the Doctor, that's Mary-Anne and Rose Tyler, we're no one, we're just wandering. Let them go!" the manacles stopped thrumming with pain, and if we weren't tied to them then I would have collapsed on the floor, my body was unusually stiff after having that pain running through me.

"But who are you?" the Editor insisted, "Who do you work for? Who sent you?" this was going to be a very long interrogation, simply because we couldn't answer of his questions, and I didn't think that he would have believed us if we said that we hadn't been sent by anyone and we were literally passing through, "If you don't tell us then I will harm both of them," the Doctor glared at him, but the man turned my head to the side, "Starting with her,"

"Harm her and I swear that it will be the last thing you do," the Doctor swore but the Editor merely clicked his fingers, pain once again thrumming through me. I could feel my wrists burning from the contraption. I bit down hard on my lip, drawing blood, in order to keep myself from screaming, "I promise you that you'll regret that,"

"I promise you that you will regret not telling us who you are," the Editor answered him, "Who else knows about us? Who do you represent..." suddenly understanding dawned over his face, and I had that familiar sinking feeling, "Time Lord..." the Doctor looked at him as if the man was insane, "Information, oh yes! The last of the Time Lords with his time travelling machine," he looked at me, "And his little human friends from long ago. Time travel!"

How the hell had he known that, when not a moment before he had absolutely no idea what we were or where we were from. And he had suddenly knew quite a lot, "What?" the Doctor said, staring at the man, "I don't know what you're talking about, somebody's been telling you lies,"

"What?" the man clicked his fingers and a screen appeared in the air, "Young Master Adam Mitchell?" I stared at the screen. Adam was sitting in the black chair that we had seen before, a beam of light streaming into his forehead. His forehead was opened up just like Cathica, when the hell had he decided to do that? "What the hell has he done?" the Doctor stared at the screen, horrified, "What the hell has he gone and done? They're reading his mind, he's telling them everything!"

"And through him, I know everything about you;" the Editor said jubilantly, clapping his hands together, happily, "Every piece of information inside his head is now mine. And what a prize. Bonanza!" we all stared at him, "Knowledge is power and you've got infinite knowledge, Doctor, the Human Empire is tiny compared to what you've seen in you T.A.R.D.I.S! TARDIS!"

"Well, you're not getting your hands on it," the Doctor said to the man, glaring almost hatefully at him. This wasn't going exactly the way I was thinking it would. If we got out of this then I was going to kill Adam with my bare hands, if the Doctor hadn't got to him first. Why did he think that it would be a good idea to go and get major surgery done? And his head opened like a door, to show his brain! What exactly was he going to do when he went home? "I'd rather die first,"

The Editor shrugged, "Die all you like, I don't need you," he taunted the other man, "I've got the key,"

Hold on...what?

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**So I'm a little nervous about the next chapter. Well, you'll see when it's up. Then you'll make up your minds about it.**

**Till next time.**


	35. The Long Game: Part 5

**So my computer has decided to completely die, so it's very lucky I managed to get everything off it. So this is the final chapter of The Long Game, and then it's Father's Day. Thank you to all those that reviewed, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Diclaimer: Not Mine**

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The Long Game: Part 5

This really wasn't what I had wanted when I said that I would have liked to see a spaceship that wasn't watching the Earth exploding. It could actually count as being a worst situation than that. Adam had a massive door in his head, the Editor had the key to the TARDIS and we were still trapped in the manacles that could produce an electric charge. That pretty summed up what the hell was happening, "You gave him the key?!" the Doctor demanded of Rose, who remained silent, "You and your bloody boyfriends,"

"Today we become the headlines!" the Editor grinned, "The Mighty Jagrafess and the Holy Hadrojassic Maxarodenfoe can maximise its newsgathering. We can rewrite history," he grinned at us, "We can prevent mankind from ever developing," Surely if he went back and rewrote time then he himself would cease to exist, he can't have forgotten that he was still human. Or maybe the issue didn't matter to him either way, but it still was a rather large problem.

The Doctor forced a laugh, "And no one will stop you," he said dully, "Because you've bred a Human Race which doesn't even bother to ask question," I saw Cathica straighten up in the corner, "Stupid little slaves. Believing every lie that has been fed to them over the years," I struggled to get out of the manacles, "They would all trot into the slaughter house if it was told that it was made of gold," Cathica suddenly turned around, running back the way that she had gone.

"This is really not good," I muttered, pulling at the manacles rapidly, before looking at Rose, "I hope you're going to kill Adam if we get out of this because I don't actually think there is going to be anything left of him once all this is over if you let the Doctor get to him first," she glared at me, and I ignored it.

There was a sudden rapid beeping from the screens around us, "What's happening?" the Editor suddenly ran over to the drones that were still working, "Someone's disengaged the safety!" he clicked his finger, another screen appearing, "Who's that?!" he ran back over to the drones, "Override her access. I said terminate it!"

Cathica was sitting in a chair, the infospike beaming into her head as she sat there, "It's Cathica!" the Doctor grinned seeing the picture, "And she's thinking, she's using what she knows," he laughed suddenly, "Everything I showed her about Satellite Five, the pipes, the filters, she's reversing it, she's changing what they've done to this place," he gestured to the walls where the ice was slowly dissolving back into the water, "Look at that...this place is about to get very hot!"

The Editor was panicking over by the computer, "Burn out her mind!" he shouted at the drone, pressing his hands onto the dead woman's. There was a sudden explosion, the screens spitting a shower of sparks at him, and the Jagrafess growled and roared at us, as the whole ground shook violently under us, the drones at the desks falling over. Now that the computer had been broken, their connection to it must have been completely severed. They were just the dead now, "I'm trying, sir. I don't know how she did it!" the man looked up at his boss, "It's impossible, a member of staff that has an idea...!" I rolled my eyes at that; he had seriously underestimated people on this space station.

"Mary-Anne..." I looked at the Doctor, "I need you to get my screwdriver," I shuffled towards him, "Top pocket," I reached out, trying to find it in his pocket. There seemed to be a ridiculous amount of stuff in his pocket, and I strained to find the screwdriver, "Hurry up,"

"I am trying," I ground out, pulling it out, "What do you have...space pockets?" he gave me a look that clearly said not now, "How do I work it?" I buzzed it a little, almost dropping it on the floor, "Is there a setting for manacles?"

"Just flick the switch on the side," he instructed and I pressed it against his bonds, the casing suddenly breaking apart. He disentangled himself from the wires that had held us in place, taking the screwdriver from me and buzzing it at mine, "Cathica's venting the heat, and she's reversing it all the way back up to Floor 500. The Jagrafess needs to stay cool and now it's sitting on top of a volcano!" the manacles dropped from my arms and I rubbed my wrists before climbing out of the contraption, "Only thing is with a volcano is that eventually it explodes," he turned to the Editor, "Oi mate," the man looked up from the screen, panic showing clearly in his eyes, "Do you want to bank on a certainty? Massive heat in a massive body?" he grinned, "Massive bang," he grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the exit, Rose following behind, "See you in the headlines, mate,"

We ran out of that room, hearing the Editor shout something at the Jagrafess, only an answering roar, "Where's Cathica?" Rose asked and the Doctor looked around before running into a room. It was basically like the one that we had been in on Floor 139, but there was blue light instead on the white that was downstairs. I delicately avoided the dead bodies that surrounded the chair; their hands were still pressed to the ports. They had died working, looking like they had suddenly frozen to death.

Cathica was in the middle of the room, light streaming out of her from the infospike. Her eyes were closed, as if she was basking in the light. I suppose all that information that was being passed between her and the computer must be extraordinary. I didn't envy her though, there was no way I was putting a door in my head for anything, and judging from what Adam had just done, I wasn't going to be running to get it done to me. Speaking of Adam, I wondered what exactly he was doing now that Cathica had plugged herself into the mainframe.

The Doctor suddenly clicked his fingers as there was an almighty bang from the other room. The whole satellite juddered, and I grabbed onto Rose for balance as the floor trembled violently. The light that was streaming into Cathica stopped, her head folding away, her forehead completely clear of marks. She looked up at us, blinking rapidly, "Not today," the Doctor told her, "Come on,"

"Did it work?" she asked and he nodded, as we walked out of the infospike room and towards the elevator, "The authorities would have been called as soon as the computers exploded, everything's going to change," she laughed, "No one's going to believe me when I tell them what actually happened," the lift suddenly descended rapidly, the numbers counting down, "What happened to that man?"

"He's dead," the Doctor said bluntly, "The Jagrafess needed to stay cool, when you vented all the heat upwards it boiled and then exploded," we hit the floor, "We're just going to go, I hate tidying up, there are too many questions, and I think you'll manage," Cathica opened her mouth to argue with him, "Look, everyone should start believing a lot of things now. The human race should accelerate, and history should get back to being normal,"

Cathica looked over our shoulders, "What about your friend?" she inquired and the Doctor's face shuttered, suddenly showing how furious actually was about the whole situation. I looked behind me to see Adam standing next to the TARDIS looking very sheepish. I didn't feel sorry for him; he was probably feeling very sorry for himself to make up for all of our lack of pity towards him, "What's going to happen to him? He's been chipped,"

"He's not my friend," the Doctor said firmly, before turning around and walking towards Adam. Rose opened her mouth to try and prevent him from saying anything to him, but I held her back, shaking my head. I knew that the Doctor wouldn't listen to her. And from his face he was deadly serious with what he intended to do. It was the look that I had seen him give to monsters and aliens when he was just about to completely destroy them. And Adam was currently in the warpath.

"I'm all right now," Adam said to us as we walked towards the TARDIS, "Much better," he held up Rose's key, "I've got the key, it's fine," he tried to smile, "And it all worked out for the best, yeah?" he turned defensive when he saw the Doctor, "It wasn't my fault, you left me all alone, you were in charge..." the Doctor grabbed the key off him, throwing it to Rose who caught it easily. He pushed Adam into the TARDIS, and I looked back at Cathica as I followed him inside. Hopefully she would be all right.

The journey that the Doctor took was ridiculously quiet. Adam had been confined to sitting on the seat while the Doctor hit buttons around the console with deadly sharpness. Rose was leaning against a pillar, studying the wall opposite. I just leant against the railings as the TARDIS whirled and beeped, flying through the Vortex, and I faintly realised that I had gotten used to travelling inside the time machine. I hardly ever felt motion sick anymore, and then shook the feeling, going back to watching the Doctor run around the console.

We landed with the most ease that we had ever done before, and the Doctor grabbed Adam's arm, pulling him out of the TARDIS in a swift motion. "Oh my god," Adam exclaimed, and I stepped out of the TARDIS seeing an ordinary living room, "It's my house, I'm home. Oh my God, I'm home," he turned towards us and his face fell slightly at our expressions, "Blimey; I thought you were going to throw me out of an airlock or something,"

"Is there something else you want to tell me?" the Doctor asked, and Adam made an innocent like face which fooled no one in the room. It was even a little insulting that he even tried. The Doctor crossed over to a phone, holding it up, "The entire archive of Satellite Five. One second of that message could have changed human history," he aimed his screwdriver at the phone and it sparked and banged, the message lost. I felt even more disgusted with Adam, how could he have been that selfish to change the whole of history? "That's it then, see ya," the Doctor moved towards the TARDIS, waving goodbye.

"How do you mean, see ya?" Adam demanded, "You can't leave now! What about me?" I raised my eyebrow at him, why would we care what happened to him now? "I've got a Chip Type Two. My head opens like a door," the Doctor merely snapped his fingers, the familiar whirr showed Adam's brain, "Don't," Adam closed it, and I opened it again, "Stop it!"

"All right both of you," Rose interrupted the Doctor and I, "That's enough now. Stop it," I folded my arms, leaning against the TARDIS. She nodded before looking at Adam, and clicking her fingers, "Sorry, couldn't resist it," she said.

"The whole of history could have changed because of you," the Doctor said quietly, as if drained of anger, "People could never have been born, things never succeeded, wars being lost because of you," Adam looked down, "You were helping yourself,"

"And I've said I'm sorry," Adam pleaded, "And I am, I really am. I'm sorry, but you can't just leave me like this with my head like this!"

"Yes I can," the Doctor shrugged, not caring about Adam, "Because if you show that head to anyone, anyone at all, they'll dissect you in seconds. So you'll have to live a very quiet life, cause absolutely no trouble whatsoever. Stay quiet, average, and unseen," for someone like Adam who was supposedly a genius, I could easily see how that would be a very big problem for him, "Good luck," Adam looked like he wanted to protest, "I only take the best, I've got Mary-Anne and Rose. I don't need you,"

He stepped into the TARDIS and I looked at Adam. I wouldn't miss him, he wasn't important to me in any way, only seemed to cause a lot of trouble for everyone. But I couldn't just leave without doing one thing, "Oi Adam," the brown haired man looked towards me, and I slapped him across the face. He staggered to the side, clutching his face, "That's for being a complete and utter bastard," I told him, "Goodbye," Blimey, I was going to Mum if I wasn't careful.

I moved towards the TARDIS, couldn't help clicking my fingers as I did so, and biting down a smile when I heard Adam swear. I walked up to the console, leaning by the levers. Rose quickly walked into the TARDIS after me, slamming the door closed, "I'm gonna be in my room," she told us, disappearing down the corridor, "I'll see you later,"

The Doctor started working on the console, putting her in flight, "Is she going to be all right?" he asked me, and I sighed, sinking down to the seat, "I am not going back for him," he warned me, "He can live out his life in the normal world,"

"She's not upset about that," I informed him, rubbing my forehead, "She's annoyed that she was the one that suggested him coming in the first place. She thinks that she ought to have known that he would do something stupid like that, and stopped him," I leaned back, "She doesn't like the fact that she got his character all wrong. She'll need a bit of time coming to terms with that, and I think that sleeping will help her a lot and think on a lot of things that she needs to think through. She'll be fine," he raised an eyebrow at me, "Trust me, I've known her for eighteen years,"

"So we've got a couple of hours until she decides to emerge," he said, running around the console, "I know exactly where to go to pass the time then," he pulled a lever and the sound of the TARDIS ground to a halt, "This place is amazing." I stepped out of the TARDIS, looking around, "One of my absolute favourite planets,"

Now I definitely thought that I had fallen down the rabbit hole. We seemed to have landed in a gigantic garden, but it was unlike any garden that I had seen before. Huge flowers sprouted from the ground, drooping down huge blossoms that produced waves of sweetened fragrance. Butterflies glided around everywhere, brushing past my face in colours that I had never seen butterflies sport. Gold, silver and electric blue wings fluttered, and I gasped as a large blue and silver one landed on my heat, resting for a few moments before swooping off again. Stars twinkled through the flowers, brighter than on Earth and seeming ever so much more beautiful.

I smiled at the sight of the whole planet, before looking back over to the TARDIS. The Doctor was leaning against the door of his ship, smiling at me, "Where are we?" I asked him.

"The Swan Nebula," he answered, "The humans that first visited here called it Delphi, after the Roman town," a butterfly landed on his shoulder, waving its wings tiredly, "Thankfully they chose not to expand their settlements, so most of this planet is uninhabited," he grasped my hand, and we walked through the foliage, "I left a note for Rose if she happens to come out of her room, so she'll know where we are," he added to me, "But I wanted to show you..." we came out into a large clearing, "This!"

"It's beautiful," I said, staring at the waterfall of diamonds or what looked like diamonds into a large lake. I placed a hand into it, the rocks falling out of my hand in a shower. It was a weird sensation; they were slippery as if wet and they flowed together as if it was like water. I looked up at the sky as we sat down on the grass, seeing the twinkling stars shining down on us, "Thank you," I told the Doctor who was sitting in front of me, "This place is...amazing," I looked up at him and suddenly everything seemed to click together. Me...Him...this place. I ran my fingers over his hands, "I've thought about it," I said to him, "And I'm staying right here...right next to you. I don't care if it's dangerous, and I don't care that my life has been completely insane since I've met you, I know exactly where I am staying,"

His face split into a wide smile, and I smiled back at him, "I trust you," he told me, and I only tilted my head at him, "So you're going to have to be careful," he fished in his pocket, "And I wanted to give you this," He placed a silvery gray object in my hands, and I turned it over, seeing a spiralling pattern on the front. I clicked it open, seeing that it was a fob watch, "Keep it safe. I need you to look after it," I shut the clock, tracing over the pattern on the front, "Can you do that? Keep it safe?"

"Thank you so much," I looked up at him, "I'll keep it safe...I promise," I ran my thumb over the pattern again. It was the same swirls that showed up on the TARDIS console screen, the only language that it refused to translate inside my head, "Does it mean anything?" he only smiled, not telling me, and I looked at the fob watch again, "I'll guard it with my life," I swore, "I won't let anyone take it from me," I suddenly looked over my shoulder, hearing a faint whisper, "Can you hear that?"

"There's no one for miles," he said to me, and I frowned, so sure that I had heard someone else here, "I'm very sure about that," he placed his hands over mine, "Now can you see that?" I clutched the watch tightly as we lay on our backs, watching the darkened night sky, shooting stars erupting here and there, "It's the Year Thirty Five Million, you lot are spread all over the place by now. No one is left on Earth at this point, they've all left for far flung planets," he turned to me, "Humans are incredible,"

"I think it's more that we've always got the urge to go and see new things," I mused, seeing a flock of butterflies zoom around above us, playing what looked suspiciously like 'Follow the Leader', "I mean it's just there...the whole universe. There's always the urge to go and find new things. I don't blame them, visiting new places with you is incredible," a golden butterfly landed on my outstretched hand and I laughed slightly at the feeling, "Now I really feel like Alice in Wonderland," I informed him, "Fell down a rabbit hole, and ended up in a huge garden,"

"Names define you," he answered, "And as I recall that Alice in the book managed to find her way home eventually," he frowned, "If you're Alice then who am I?"

"I don't know," I thought on it, "The Mad Hatter probably," I rested my head back as the golden butterfly took off again, flying around my head before zipping off, turning in circles, and performing loop the loops in the air, "You're the madman with the box, remember," I turned onto my side looking at him, and he placed a hand on my cheek. I leaned into the touch, completely at peace. For once there was nothing bothering me. No trouble around the corner, no worrying about living, there was just me and him, surrounded by thousands of butterflies in a garden.

It was beautiful.

* * *

**So here we are, the end of The Long Game. I do have to say I was nervous about the ending of this chapter. Do you like it, do you not like it? Is it in character or is it just plain cheesy? I have no idea. So I'd like to hear your thoughts.**

**See you next time.**

**_Next Time_  
**

_**"Could we go and see my Dad," I suddenly stiffened at that, "When he was still alive? Can we do that? If it breaks the laws of time or something, then never mind, just leave it. We don't have to go,"**_

_**...**_

_**"Doctor, please tell me that this a very, very bad dream," I murmured and the Doctor looked down at me, "That we are in fact back on the TARDIS. You're fixing a thermocoupling that has broken and I'm all asleep in my bed. Nothing has happened, and everything is fine," I pinched my arm, looking up at the scene, "No, thought it was too good to be true..."**_

_**...**_

_**"So we've got a problem concerning time, and every second that we waste, those things will eventually break down the walls..."**_


	36. Father's Day: Part 1

**Thank you for all of your reviews! It does matter what people think about this story. So here is the first part of Father's Day. Hope you all like it.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

Father's Day: Part 1

I held up the piece of paper to the screen, the swirls from the pattern on my fog watch painstakingly drawn onto it, "What does this mean?" I asked it and the screen spat more swirls onto it, "Come on, I know that you know what it says, and I also know that you can actually use English, so I would like to know what this means," the console beeped a little but didn't answer my question, "As you wish, dearie," I glared at it, "And here I thought that you liked me,"

So it had been about two weeks since the Doctor and I had been on Delphi, and he had given the fog watch to me. It's not like anything had really been talked between us concerning whatever we had between us? It was better, I thought, that we didn't talk about it. It would only serve as a limitation, and the Doctor was as complicated as the whole universe. We would play it by ear. Rose had obviously realised that the Doctor and I were closer together and I would often catch her with a smile on her face while looking at me. I wasn't sure whether it was a good or a bad thing, but at least she hadn't commented on anything. I really didn't know how to explain everything to her and I knew what the first question would be from her. If she wanted to talk then she would come out and say it first. But she had been slightly preoccupied with the places that we had been seeing.

It probably was some sort of a record but in the two weeks since leaving Adam with the door in his head, we hadn't run into any trouble at any of the planets that we had been to. Not a single tiny piece of trouble...Excluding that misunderstanding with the President of San Kaloon about the whereabouts of his Foreign Minister which earned us a night in their prison. But apart from that it had been very quiet around the TARDIS. As said before we finally saw the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon. It was five hundred feet high and completely made out of glass, and when you were inside it at precisely four o'clock in the afternoon, the sun would hit it exactly right and the whole place burst into rainbow colours.

Other than San Kaloon, we had visited a planet known as Woman Wept which had vast forests and mountain ranges covering the whole surface of the planet which was in the shape of a woman crying. We didn't actually step foot on it, the Doctor had extended the air bubble around the TARDIS which allowed us to open the doors and see the planet from above so we could see it in full. Another planet was a complete water planet which completely froze to ice at a certain time of the day, and we had gone to an alien market which held a fascinating amount of wares. That trip was mainly because the Doctor needed to get some new parts for the TARDIS, because as he said, 'She's older than me, it's expected that some parts of her are falling apart'. That comment earned him a burnt hand from the console when he next used it. Needless to say my diary was getting filled with new things every day.

Everything except what the swirls on the fog watch that the Doctor had given to me. I had asked him repeatedly but every time he had smiled his enigmatic smile and found something new to work on the TARDIS. Just from that I could tell that it did actually mean something and it wasn't just my imagination. So eventually I had drawn out the pattern on paper and had asked the TARDIS for the answer when the Doctor was out of the room. And either she liked having to watch me struggle to find out the answer or the Doctor had forbidden her to show me, but I still wasn't having much luck. The answer was probably voice locked or something along those lines. But I wasn't about to give up that easily.

I folded the paper in two, placing it in my pocket, and sitting on the seat, closing my eyes. I had finally got the hang of the TARDIS in flight, no feeling a little bit ill for me anymore. I leaned my head back, hearing footsteps towards me from the corridor. Ahh Rose and the Doctor, we were probably going somewhere interesting again. I opened my eyes just as they walked in, Rose in mid sentence, "...that's what my Mum always said," I eyed her from the other side of the console room as the Doctor walked up to sit next to me, "So I was thinking...could we?" now I really didn't know what was going on, but from the Doctor's expression he was obviously considering it, "Could we go and see my Dad," I suddenly stiffened at that, "When he was still alive? Can we do that? If it breaks the laws of time or something, then never mind, just leave it. We don't have to go,"

I stared at her, my fingers clenched in my lap. She wanted to go and see our Dad when he was alive? She...I let out a long breath, trying to halt my apprehension and anger at her asking that of the Doctor and of me. She knew what I felt about that issue but clearly her desire to do this overrode that, "I can do anything," the Doctor boasted, before taking a long look at me. I didn't meet his eyes, "I'm more worried about you," he rolled a glass ball between his hands, "Are you sure about this?" Rose nodded, and he looked at me, eyebrows raised, "Your wish is my command, but be careful what you wish for," he frowned when I didn't smile at that, "Mary-Anne?"

"What?" I said, coming to my senses, before looking at Rose. She looked back with a slightly pleading look on her face. I knew that this was important to her, I knew that she needed to go and see our Dad, but I knew...knew that something bad would come of this. We would meet him, and she wouldn't be able to let go again. But I knew that she wanted this so desperately, "Yeah, all right," I agreed slowly, still looking at Rose carefully. This was against my better judgement and I really didn't want to agree, but this would be what I owed her for saving my life, "Let's go,"

The Doctor got up, running around the console, slamming levers, "Thank you," Rose muttered to me, and I nodded minutely, still studying her. She tried to smile at me, "What do you think that he's like," she continued, "Mum always used to say..."

I held up my hand, cutting her off, "I really, really don't want to know what Mum said about him," I replied and she swallowed heavily, "We're not going to talk to him, we can't," she nodded sharply, and I stood up, resting my hands on the edge of the railings, "Don't make me regret agreeing to this, Rose, please. I don't think this is a good idea but I am happy to go along with this so long as we are in and out as quickly as possible. I know how much you want to do this, so I'm not going to say anything," the TARDIS shuddered to a halt, "Better get out there,"

She turned and walked immediately out of the doors. I pulled on my coat slowly, before heading towards the door. The Doctor caught my arm just before we exited the ship, "Are you all right with this?" he asked me, and I jerked my head in the semblance of a nod, "Because I can say that we can't do it, I can make an excuse to why we shouldn't go and see your Dad," I rubbed my arms self consciously, "If you're upset with seeing him then..."

"No," I raised my hands, "No, I'm not all right with seeing him, but Rose wants this and I owe her," I told him, "She wants to see him, and I am not going to take that away from her if there isn't a decent enough reason to do this," I shrugged, "I think I can weather it perfectly fine...just don't ask me to talk to him. I won't do that," he looked at me searching my face, before nodding reluctantly, "Where did you decide to land us?"

"Your parents' wedding," he said, as we walked out into a street, "Rose gave me the details of where it was," he offered his arm and I looked at him before grinning, looping my own around his as we walked inside the registry office, "I do have to say...I would have thought that your Mother would have gotten married in a church, white dress and everything. This is not exactly what I was thinking," we walked into the registry room and I stared at Mum who was dressed in a very pink dress, "Actually this is so your mother," we sat down quickly next to Rose who was watching carefully.

"I, Peter Alan Tyler," I stared at my Dad who was holding Mum's hand at the front of the room dressed in a grey suit. He was just like the pictures that I had seen briefly of him, the ginger hair that I had inherited until I had dyed it black. I couldn't see his eyes but I was sure that he had the same dark eyes as Rose, "Take you, Jacqueline Susan..." he stumbled over Mum's name, "Suzette...Anita?" Mum audible sighed at his mistake and the Doctor next to me grinned, but Rose looked slightly crestfallen.

"I thought that he'd be taller," she murmured to me, and I bit my lip at that. She had grown up practically filled with the stories of our Dad's adventures, his job, how he had died that day. I suppose she had built up an image of him that was hard to live up to. Still she was here as she had asked. All we had to do was outlast the rest of the wedding which I was sure would be filled with as many mistakes as it could be possible. I fiddled with the watch in my pocket, wanting to get the hell out of the registry office.

After another five minutes, I stood up, "Need to use the bathroom, don't miss this for me," I told Rose, walking out of the room, ignoring the looks that I got from the rest of the guests. I didn't care, I needed some air; the place was stifling me. I ran the water in the sink, splashing my face with the freezing liquid. I looked up to look in the mirror, jumping back in fright at the person behind me, splashing water on my clothes. I turned around to look behind me but there wasn't anyone there. I shook my head, before pulling paper towels out of the dispenser, and dabbing at the wet denim that I had gotten completely soaked. Weird, I could have sworn that someone had been behind me.

Rose came into the bathroom, "Are you all right?" she looked at me, "You don't look so good. Are you sure you're all right with this,"

"Yes," I replied, sharply, pulling my coat around me, "I'm just a little wet," I walked past her, and out into the hall, where the Doctor was waiting. Rose followed behind me, "So we've seen the rest of the wedding clearly," I wanted to get the hell out of there and I didn't want to return in any capacity, "Is there anything else you want to do?"

Rose looked hesitantly at the Doctor as we started walking back to the TARDIS, "There's something else," she said quietly, and the Doctor nodded, "My mum told me about the day that he died, how he was so close to home, but that nobody was there to be with him when he died. The ambulance was too late, he was already dead when they got there," the Doctor turned the key in the TARDIS lock, and we all walked in, "I want to be that someone for him. So he doesn't die alone,"

The Doctor looked at her speculatively, "Ok," he agreed, "Mary-Anne thinks that it'll be all right then I can do it," he flicked some switches, "November the seventh, 1987," the TARDIS hardly made a shudder as we landed in the right year. I suppose we weren't jumping whole millennia, only a few short years, "Here we are," he gestured outside, "1987,"

I stepped outside the TARDIS looking at the day that I was presented with. I had to say, it didn't live up to even my expectation, "This is so weird," Rose said, looking around at the ordinary street, "The day our Father died. I thought it would be all grim and stormy, but it's just an ordinary day,"

"The past's another country," the Doctor remarked, "1987 is just the Isle of Wight," I gave him a look that clearly told him to shut up, "Message received and understood," he looked down at Rose, "Are you sure about this? We can leave right now if this is what you want,"

"I can do this," she insisted, walking along the road, the Doctor and me following, "It's this way," she turned down another road, and I hesitated, not wanting to follow her, "Alice?" she looked over at me, "You coming?"

I turned to look back at the TARDIS. I squeezed my eyes shut, pondering over the decision. Do I, don't I? What to do, what to do? "Yeah," I eventually said, going after her, ignoring the concerned look from the Doctor to go and stand next to Rose, watching the empty road silently. I was so going to regret coming here. I could feel it coming ever closer, that familiar feeling of danger coming closer and closer. Why did I ever let Rose decide to come here in the first place? I had been sure that there was a decent reason for doing this.

"Jordon Road," Rose informed the Doctor, "He was late, he'd been to get this wedding present, a vase," she shook her head, "Mum always said that stupid vase. He got out of his car...crossed the road and..." she trailed off seeing a green car pull up, "Oh god this is it," Pete got out of the car, holding the vase, before turning around. I briefly saw a car behind him, before I pressed my face into the Doctor's shoulder. I might have not wanted to be here, but it still didn't mean that I wanted to see my Dad get run over by a stupid car.

There was a smash of pottery and I refused to look around, "Go to him," the Doctor advised Rose and I looked at her and she looked behind me at probably the dying body of my Dad. Then she suddenly ran off down the road. I instinctively ran after her, seeing tears stream down her face. The wail of sirens pealed in the distance, and I already knew that I was too late for her to be with Dad when he had died.

"It's too late," she muttered, placing her head in her hands, "It's too late, it's too late," I took a hold of her hands. I knew that this was important to her, "By the time the ambulances got there he was already dead," she told the Doctor, "He can't die on his own..." she looked up at him, "Can I try again?"

The Doctor could only nod and Rose wiped away her running makeup, making her way back towards the TARDIS, "You're giving her hope," I told the Doctor, folding my arms and watching his reaction carefully, "This is a bad idea, but I'll go along with it because I know that she needs to do this. If it were down to me then we wouldn't be coming back here. We wouldn't have come here in the first place," I started walking back to the TARDIS, "We better not end up regretting this,"

He stepped in front of me, "What is it?" he questioned, "What is it about this that makes you completely closed off to everyone. You've been like this since Rose even suggested coming to visit this part of the universe," he moved closer, "You can tell me, Mary-Anne, I'm not going shoot you down in flames,"

I looked up at him, so close to speaking everything on my mind, "It's not important," I dismissed my thoughts from my mind, "Can we talk about this after we've managed to do what Rose wants us to do?" I proposed, "It's a little complicated to talk about on a street corner," he nodded, taking my hand, and walking into the TARDIS again, prepared to do this all over again.

* * *

For the second time that day we found ourselves on Jordan Road, only seeing another version of ourselves. We hid behind the corner, watching the previous us' stand on the roadside, "Right, that's the first you and me," the Doctor told Rose, "And it is actually a really bad idea there being two of us here at the same time. Just make sure that they don't see, and then go to him when they run off," Rose nodded shakily, "You don't have to do anything that you don't want to," he insisted, "But this is the last time we can be here,"

She nodded, and I saw the green car roll up again, my Dad getting out with that vase again. I leaned back around the corner, not wanting to see this all over again. Rose bounced slightly on her heels, clearly juddering with adrenaline. And then suddenly she started running around the corner. I frowned at that, looking around the corner and seeing Rose pull Pete out of the way of the oncoming car. Oh my God, what the hell had she just gone and done? I turned to see our previous selves disappear in a pool of light.

I stared as Pete stood up looked around the road, completely unharmed, "I did it," I heard Rose say, "I saved your life!" I turned to look at the Doctor who stared at the scene in front of him with naked horror on his face. I knew that this would go terribly wrong, that we should have never come here, "I really did it! Oh my God, look at you! You're alive! That car was about to kill you,"

"Doctor, please tell me that this a very, very bad dream," I murmured and the Doctor looked down at me, "That we are in fact back on the TARDIS. You're fixing a thermocoupling that has broken and I'm all asleep in my bed. Nothing has happened, and everything is fine," I pinched my arm, looking up at the scene, "No, thought it was too good to be true..." Rose and Pete were still talking together, Rose smiling at him as if she had broken the world record for swimming rather than breaking the world record for being a complete idiot.

Pete looked towards us, "If you're going to the wedding as well, do you and your friends need a lift?" Rose nodded enthusiastically, beaming over at us. That bad feeling just kept on growing.

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**So here we go! Don't worry, Alice doesn't really hate Pete, she just has issues to work through.**

**Till next time!**


	37. Father's Day: Part 2

**Thank you for all your kind reviews yesterday, and here is the next chapter. Father's Day is a rather sad episode, isn't it, and you do want to say to Rose: 'Really? Surely you've travelled with the Doctor for long nough that you know that it's a very bad idea'. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Father's Day: Part 2

The silence in the car was as awkward as anything and I really wished that we could just hope back in the TARDIS, and leave this all behind us. But with a single action, Rose had changed everything, and we couldn't just leave now. I was sharing a car with my Dad, my dead Dad. This day was just getting weirder by the second and in my life at the moment, you had to go a very long way to get to a weird situation. And this one probably had to top any and every contest.

It was also extremely weird pulling up to the Powell Estate, and climbing the stairs to the same flat that Mum had all the way in 2006. It hadn't changed at all, the paintwork was the same, the graffiti on the walls was along the same lines as they were in my time, and the people that I saw around the estate were the same. Younger by about twenty years, guaranteed, but I recognised all of them. I never realised how static our estate was. That was highly embarrassing if I had to admit it.

The flat was an absolute tip, "There we go," Pete said opening the front door and I walked in after Rose, looking around. The paint was basically the same, but there were bags of stuff everywhere, bits of wire and papers all around, "Sorry about the mess, if you want a cup of tea, the kitchen's just down there on the left. Milk's in the fridge," he grinned, "Well it would be, wouldn't it? Where else would you put the milk?" he looked thoughtful, "Mind you, there's always the windowsill outside. I always thought, if someone invented a windowsill with different compartments, like one for milk, one for yoghurt, you could make money out of it, sell it to students and things. He looked around, "I should write that down," he waved a hand, "Never mind that. Excuse me a minute, I've got to go and change,"

He disappeared into the room that I recognised as Mum's room, and I sat down on one of the chairs around the dining table, watching as Rose looked around the flat, still grinning from ear to ear, "Look, all the stuff Mum kept," she pointed the trophies out to me, "His stuff. She had it all packed away in boxes in the cupboard, she used to show me when she'd had a bit to drink," I looked away at that, "And here it is on display. Where it should be," I shuddered at that. It probably sounded strange, but I didn't like this time, where everything seemed to be out of order and changed. It made my head spin. Rose picked up a trophy, "Third prize at the bowling. First two got to go to Didcot," she crouched down next to boxes, "Health drinks! Tonics, Mum used to call them. He made money selling this Vitex stuff, he had all sorts of jobs, he was so clever," she thumbed through the papers on the table, "Solar power. Mum said he was going to do that, now he can," she looked at me, "You would have done the same thing,"

"You know," I started, "I'm not sure I would," What was I saying? My mind was roiling with the information that my Dad was right here. I leaned back in the chair, "I said that this would be a bad idea, I knew that coming here would be far too much to handle, and now somehow..." I lowered my voice to an audible whisper so that Pete in the other room couldn't hear us, "Peter Tyler, our father, is now running around completely alive, and we don't have a single idea what the hell is going on. So no," my voice resumed normality, "I don't know whether I would have done what you did, because I never wanted to be here in the first place, that is your fault,"

"He's alive now," she insisted, and I closed my eyes, resting my head on the wood behind me. She didn't get it, she just didn't get it. I know that I should be jubilant that my Dad was alive, but...I was just cold inside. There were so many variables, and I wondered what had been affected in the future place, "This wasn't part of any big plan, I just saw it happening and I thought that I could this from happening!" she looked at me, "You can't be that cold inside,"

"When we first met, I said, 'travel with me in space'," the Doctor remarked, "You said no. But when I said: 'time machine' is this why you went with me," Rose shook her head and the Doctor scoffed, "I did it again, I picked another stupid ape. I should have known. Ninety nine times out of a hundred, it's all the same with people like you; it's not about showing you the universe, and having the privilege of doing so. It never is. It's about the universe doing something for you!"

Rose laughed shortly, "So it's all right when you go to other times and other planets, and save all of them, but when it's my Dad, and I try and save him, and succeed, that's not allowed?" she shouted at him, "Because that's really fair, isn't it?"

"I know what I'm doing, you don't," the Doctor argued back at her; "Two lots of us being there made that a vulnerable spot. Now that you've changed something that shouldn't be changed, the consequences could be unlimited. You don't know what you are doing when it comes to this. You knew that he was going to die and you changed it. You didn't save him, and now there are going to be ripples going out from here through time, you don't know what you've done and things will change. My entire planet died; my whole family. Do you think it never occurred to me to go back and save them?"

Rose was clearly getting upset about this fact, "But it's not like I changed history," she insisted, "Not much. I mean, he's never going to be a world leader or start World War Three, is he? He's just an ordinary man who won't change this world at all. Not in the long term. He might get a Wikipedia page but that's it. Nothing else,"

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly, "Rose, there is a man alive in the world, who wasn't before," he stressed, "And yes he's an ordinary man, just that. That's the most important thing in the whole of creation. An ordinary man. The whole world is different, because he's alive. Mary-Anne didn't run out and save him from a car crash. Because this was meant to happen, and now you've changed it. You have no idea what you've done!"

Rose looked at me, "You're being rather quiet about it," she accused and I didn't say anything to her, "What, would you rather him dead, Alice?" I opened my mouth at that, and she continued talking, "I get it with you, for once you're not the most important family member here for once," she looked at the Doctor, "And you're not the most important man in the room,"

"Rose, when was I ever the most important family member?" I asked her, and she pressed her lips together, "I don't wish him dead, but I wish that you had left well enough alone so that we weren't in this mess to begin with. You know why I didn't want to be here," I looked at her, "Perhaps I should have paid attention a little more, but I didn't think that you'd do this. You made him alive today, and you know what happens this evening. You might have changed everything,"

"Let's see how you do without me, then," the Doctor held out his hand, "Give me the key," Rose frowned at him, not understanding, but a cold trickle of dread crept through my stomach, "If I'm so insignificant, give it back," Rose threw the key at him, "You've got what you wanted, so that's goodbye then," he stormed out of the flat and I sighed, standing up.

"You're not going?" she stared at me, and I shrugged, "You're picking him over me? You've known me for eighteen years and when I save one person, you go and disappear off with him," I folded my arms, "Always running, Alice, never looking back at what you've left behind, and seeing what you've left trailing behind you. No wonder Mum always despaired of you, thinking that you'd never do anything with your life," I made sharply for the door, but she stood in my way, "You don't scare me. I know how sad you are when I'm not with you," I glared at her, "You'll be back in a minute, or you'll hang around the TARDIS waiting for me," I shoved past her, opening the front door, "And I'll make you wait a long time!"

I placed one hand on the door frame, "I don't know what I did to make you say that to me, Rose, but whatever you are accusing me of is not my fault," I said lowly, "I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labours because I don't think they're as sweet as you thought they were in the beginning," I stormed through the door, slamming the door behind me and I set off at a run, heading down the stairs three at a time, not caring which way I was going, just needing to get out of the estate and somewhere I could breathe.

I eventually stopped when the pain in my side grew to be too much and I collapsed on a bench overlooking the park, burying my head in my hands. I didn't cry, I hadn't cried for years, but Rose was seriously pushing my limits when she played into that particularly nasty side that sometimes came out. I let out a noise of frustration, pulling my hair out of its bands, running my hands through it in agitation. She wasn't getting to me, she didn't get to me. She also didn't mean it...I hoped. Her and her bloody obsession with saving Pete. I didn't need her; she could stay here with him for eternity for all I bloody cared. I didn't care what she thought, or did or anything. I was completely fine, her comments didn't bother me. Not a single little tiny insignificant bit.

"If you keep running your hands through your hair then it'll be all over the place," I couldn't help but smile at the voice, turning around to see the Doctor standing behind the bench, "Do you want a bit of company?" he sat next to me, "She didn't mean what she said to you, you know that, don't you?" I didn't answer, just leant on his shoulder, sighing deeply, "She's just annoyed at the fact that she's getting told off for nearly endangering the whole of creation,"

"I thought she has endangered the whole of creation," I replied, blithely, "I'm sorry, I promised that I wouldn't run off anywhere, and look where I am," I gestured around us, "Right where I started, only twenty years earlier," I closed my eyes, "She's right though," I cleared my throat, "Rose is right about me, I always run away not looking back, because I'm afraid that it's going to hurt me. Mum does despair of me, because she still sees that teenager that lied through her teeth and started fighting...and I've never had the opportunity to be away from Rose because she's older than me,"

He held my hand lightly, turning it over in his hands, "Why don't you like today?"

"Other than the fact that it's the day that my Dad died?" I queried, before mock pausing, "Oh hold on wait a moment, that's going ahead now, is it?" I laughed humourlessly, before drumming up the courage to say my problems, "I never got the stories," I told him and he frowned, "The stories about my Dad...the ones that Rose was telling you about. Bowling...Vitex, and bloody solar power, I never got any of that. Mum never thought to tell me," I tucked a piece of stray hair behind my ear, "You see, he never knew about me. Pete Tyler...he didn't know that Mum was pregnant with me. She'd be around two and a half months pregnant now, and tonight...tonight when she's mourning the death of her husband, she finds out that she's pregnant with me," I bit my lip, "I know that my Mum loves me, I don't doubt that, but I also know that every time she looks at me, she's seeing him, and there's this little...bit in her that thinks of what might have been,"  
"Living up to expectation," he said and I let out an annoyed sigh, "I understand; I never fit in with anyone back on Gallifrey, one of the reasons why I left there. Because how can you compete against a dead person?" I chuckled at that, hanging my head, "Thank you for telling me,"

"That's why I can't talk to him," I added, "I can't talk to him because I'm afraid that I will like him. And if I like him then I will mourn him because..." I closed my eyes, "I know that if he is still alive tonight...when Mum finds out that she's pregnant with me; then I get taken out of the whole equation. I don't know whether they will like me, I don't know whether he will like me. All I wanted when I was a child, I so wanted my Dad, and that changed me. I pretend that I don't care, but the truth is that I care more than anything. I'm the worst hypocrite in the world. And if he's still alive then everything changes for me. If I have my Dad when I'm growing up, then I'll be a completely different person. What would happen to me, Doctor?"

"I don't know," he answered, looking ahead, and I closed my eyes, "It might be that time bends around you. You're a time traveller, and you're out of place here. If everything changes then you might remember it both ways, but that depends on whether you get born or not. This isn't a fixed point, it can be rewritten," he placed an arm around me, "I will not let anything scrub you out of the history books, Mary-Anne," I rested my head on his shoulder, "We should get back to the TARDIS, since time has been changed...again, I need to see what damage is being done," he helped me up from the bench, "And being in the TARDIS will prevent you being wiped from history,"

"Doctor, are you lying to me?" I asked him, standing in front of me, and he smiled at me, "Nice try, Doctor, but that's really not going to work with me," I looked at him seriously, "Just tell me,"

He sighed, "It was a clever lie," he replied and I laughed, pushing him back lightly before walking in the direction of the TARDIS, "The TARDIS will tell us whether time is going wibbly, so we will know what to do if it does," we crossed over the park, walking down streets that had been familiar to me as a child, "When you were small..." he started, "What did you want to be when you grew up?"

"Hmm," I thought back, "I changed a lot. First I wanted to be an astronaut, and then I wanted to be a librarian," I shrugged, "When I was going to do my A-Levels, I chose completely random electives. History, mathematics, English Literature and Chemistry. Of course I never finish it, and then I never got to have chance of pondering what I wanted to be. I guess I never wanted to stay doing one job all the time. This way is much better, there's not a real rhyme or reason to it. Probably why I like it so much. Never was one for doing the same thing from one day to the next. With you it's a different planet every day, different challenge all in itself," I walked backwards, holding both his hands, "So much better,"

"I completely agree," he concurred, and we finally reached the TARDIS, "So we stay here until Rose decides to correct her thinking," we'd be waiting a very long time for that then. Rose wasn't well known for coming around to seeing other people's points of view, "So all we have to do is..." he opened the TARDIS' door to reveal...an empty box, "What?" he walked into it, "Where's my TARDIS?" he looked around, before pulling the doors shut, opening them again to reveal the same result, "Oh dear,"

There was a screech in the sky and I looked up to see great huge bat creatures zooming over the skies, "How did we miss those out, Doctor?" I asked him, staring at them. They were like scaly reptile dinosaurs that flew with pterodactyl wings. I realised something, "Oh my God," I looked at him, "Rose..." I started running down the road, the Doctor following me, "St Martin's Church is this way..." I don't know how I managed to get the energy to run so fast but we managed to run extraordinarily quickly to the church. And I know that I was cross with her, and I know that if I got her out of trouble then we'd go back to frosty tension until that was resolved. But until then I would still try and save her.  
We rounded a corner, and I saw Rose standing on the pavement, next to a car and surrounded by people in wedding clothes, "Rose!" the Doctor shouted and she turned to us, a smug smile on her face, "Get in the church!" her smile faltered a little, "Get in the church!"

There was an almighty screech as one of those creatures suddenly appeared above the church, bearing down on the wedding party and Rose screamed.

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**So what did people think? Good, bad, ugly? I told you there were issues involved. Families, eh? Hope it lived up to expectation.**

**Till next time.**


	38. Father's Day: Part 3

**Thank you for all your reviews, once again. They really help me in deciding what people want to see in the future chapter. And some of you seem to want to slap Rose, well it's not in this chapter...**

**To anyone who recieved A Level exam results yesterday here in the UK, hope you did well in them. I'm leaving for Uni next month and that's a weird prospect in itself. To anyone else who's recieved exam results anywhere else in the world, I hope you did well in them also.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Father's Day: Part 3

I quickly tackled Rose to the ground, hitting the concrete pavement as the creature swooped overhead, only just missing us. I looked at Rose, "Consider us even," I scrambled up, seeing another creature appear high above church, "Doctor?!" I looked at the man who was pushing the wedding party towards the entrance of the church. I grabbed Rose, pushing her towards the group. I caught sight of Mum in the pack, her hair curled and crimped, and she was stuffed into a salmon pink dress. Blimey, and I thought that day wouldn't get any worse.

"Everyone inside the church, now!" the Doctor shouted, as guests crowded at the entrance, coming out rather than staying inside, "No!" he bellowed at them, "Stay in there! Don't come out," the creatures suddenly swooped down, their arms outstretched, and bearing down upon us. The guests at the church's entrances instantly screamed and scattered, making the creatures pick off those that were on the fringes. I saw the vicar get eaten as he stood there and the Doctor bellowed, "IN!" forcing all of us to run inside the church, and I helped him slam the doors shut, bolting them down.

"What the hell are those things?" I demanded of the Doctor as we leant against the door. The wedding guests were all shouting at each other, coming up with theories. Bev, my mother's best friend who she spent nearly half her life on the phone with, was looking a lot younger than I had ever seen her, and was babbling something about Judgement Day, while my blessed Mother was insisting that it was a joke. I looked back at the Doctor, "What are they?"

"They're called Reapers," he answered me, and swallowed, looking away from me, "And they pretty much do what their name suggests," he patted the door, breathing heavily, "They can't get in through here, old walls and doors," a Reaper passed the window, screeching, "If they're from outside of time..." he sighed, rubbing his forehead, "The older something is, the stronger it is... which is why this church is so good. They can't get through by physical force. What else?" there was a loud screech from the other end of the church, "Check the other doors!" he ordered the guests, all of whom sprung into action, scurrying around the church like rather loud church mice, "Move!"

Of course, one person didn't do as she was told and followed the Doctor as he went to close the other doors, "But what are they?" Mum said to him, clutching the arm of his coat, pulling him back so he was looking at her, "What's happening! What were those things?"

Surprisingly, the Doctor decided to humour my Mother, probably because he was busy trying to save the world...again. And she wasn't actually trying to slap the hell out of him, "There's been an accident with time," he explained to her, and I let out a chuckle, throwing a look at Rose. An accident with time, that was fine with me. Even if it was a pretty loose definition of the word: accident. The Doctor heard my reaction, and corrected himself, "A wound in time. They're called Reapers, and they act like bacteria, taking advantage of the wound, streaming in from outside time,"

Mum scoffed at him, instantly back to being completely antagonistic towards the Doctor. Maybe times weren't so different from 2006, perhaps it was a fixed point that the Doctor and Mum would never get along together or even be remotely friendly with each other. I really wouldn't be surprised if that would be the case, "What's that mean?" she insisted, folding her arms, clearly annoyed, "What does time mean? What are you jabbering on about time for?"

"Oh, I should have known that you might the one to argue, Jackie," the Doctor snapped at her, looking inside a cupboard. His voice clearly bordered on getting very irritated, and I sat down on one of the aisle seat, watching the argument between them unfold; "I am sick and tired of you complaining all the time. I personally don't have the time to be dealing with your demands at the moment, so if you would sit down like I know you can..."

"What are you on about?" she got in his face, and I could tell by the sudden tensing of his jaw, the Doctor was getting very close to the breaking point, "How do you know my name?" she asked, "I've never met you before in my life!"

"No," he agreed with her, "And you won't ever know me if I don't sort this problem out without any interruptions from other people that make my life very difficult," he glared down at her, "Now if you don't mind, I've waited a very long time to do this," he stepped up to her, "Jackie Tyler, do as I say! Go and check the other doors," I watched in amazement as Mum's eyes widened before running off to do exactly as she was told. I stared at the Doctor in amazement. He had got to teach me how to do that. He smiled over to me, "I should have done that ages ago,"

"That...was amazing," I informed him, still staring at the spot, "You have got to do that to her the next time we see her..." he grinned at me, "I think that's probably the first time I've actually seen her shut up voluntarily. If I find a suitable medal, I will give it to you. You would have earned it,"

"Excuse me," I saw Stuart Hoskins walk towards us. Blimey, it was turning out to be like This Is Your Life. This was getting very, very surreal, "My dad was out there, he sort of vanished...With those things. Is he?" he looked into the Doctor's eyes and then looked down when he realised that his Dad was likely dead. Except that hadn't happened in reality, but another Dad had died because Rose had saved her own. And Sonny Hoskins wasn't supposed to die for another fifteen years, "Oh my God,"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor offered him, "But you have to mourn him later, because right now there are hundreds of those things outside trying to get in and we've got to concentrate on keeping ourselves alive long enough so that we can get everyone back," Stuart stared to say something but the Doctor cut straight through him, "There is nothing I can do for him,"

"I know," Stuart swallowed heavily at that, "But he had this telephone thing..." he held up a huge brick of a phone. I stared at it with amusement, oh the things that they used to have in the old days, and they thought that this was cutting edge technology, "Paid a huge fortune to get it, and I thought we could phone the police with it. But I can't get it to work," he handed the phone to the Doctor, who turned it over in his hands, "I keep getting this voice..."

The Doctor held the phone up to his ear, before smiling, "That's the very first phone call," he informed us, before throwing the phone over to me, and I placed it to my ear, hearing the Scottish voice on the other end calling for someone called Watson, "Alexander Graham Bell!" he turned serious as he looked at Stuart, "I don't think the telephone is going to be much use. The police can't help us now, no one can," he checked another door, "Nothing in the universe can harm those things," he turned towards us and I knew that he was talking to Rose, because she was bordering on breaking out into tears, "Time is damaged, and they've come to sterilise the wound..." he hesitated, "By consuming everything inside,"

I let out an audible sigh at that, watching Rose carefully, "Well..." I spoke up, placing my feet on another chair, leaning back, "This is rather an interesting predicament, isn't it Rose?" she looked at me, "So we're stuck in this church, basically waiting for those things to break down these walls, and when they do...we'll all be eaten and thrown out of time itself," I smiled sarcastically at her, "How very interesting," I stood up, "I do hope you're happy with this,"

"It's not my..." I looked at her silently; the Doctor had already disappeared in the back of the church, barricading all the doors. But there was nothing that we could say properly to each other, not with Pete standing so close to us, "Is this my fault?"

I shrugged, "Take a wild guess, Rose," I dug my hands into the pockets of my jacket, walking away from her, and towards the back of the church where the Doctor was running his screwdriver over the hinges of the door, "So we've got a problem concerning time, and every second that we waste, those things will eventually break down the walls..." he nodded slowly, and I looked out of the window, "And the TARDIS's interior is missing as well so we've got to solve that as well. Is there anything else that you've neglected to tell us? I don't know...we've only got thirty minutes left?"

"It doesn't matter how much time we've got till the Reapers completely sterilise the wound," he replied, "All that really matters is that they will eventually get in here, and when that happens I can't do anything. I'm without the TARDIS and I have no idea what to do other than to guard the doors," he looked over to where Rose was sitting on a pew, "You're going to have to forgive her, she does regret doing it now," I was silent, "Why don't you just..."

"I'm only forgiving her when she apologises to me," I interrupted him, leaning forward and resting on my knees, "She knew what I felt about coming here in the first place. She knew everything and yet she still did it, and I have to hear her apologise to me for what she said, and I want to hear her apologise to you for doing it. I understand why she did it, doesn't mean I have to like it. I'm human, sue me,"

Pete came over to us, "There's smoke coming up from the city but no sirens," he told us and I looked away from him pointedly, "I don't think it's just us, those things must be over the whole of the city," he shrugged, "I don't know, over the whole world?" I looked out of the window, frowning when I saw the same car that was supposed to run him over, before it disappeared in a blaze of golden light. I shared a look with the Doctor, although he probably had worked something out in his head, "Was that a car?" Pete inquired, frowning out of the window.

I kept my eyes on the Doctor as he straightened up, "It's not important," he told my father, "Don't worry about it," he quickly left and I stood up, not wanting to stay with Pete for any longer than I had to. However, he caught my wrist just as I passed next to him.

"Can we talk?" he asked me, and I raised my eyebrows, "I didn't get your name...Rose..."

"My name is Mary-Anne, but only the Doctor calls me that," I said tightly, "Everyone else calls me Alice," he looked at me, "And I would rather that we not...talk," I grimaced slightly, wanting and needing to get away as fast as I could, "Very bad history, so I'm asking nicely...back off,"

"I just think that you're being a little harsh with her," he informed me, and I folded my arms, leaning against a post as I watch him, "I think she's feeling a little lonely with you and your bloke..." he gestured in the direction of the Doctor, "He isn't talking to her either. And with those things outside, we might not have a lot of time. She's supposed to be your friend..."

I cleared my throat, "She's my sister," I stated bluntly, and I saw his eyes widen slightly at that information, "And I think I retain the right to be as annoyed as I like towards her, because I am a family member and actually know the whole story not just the tiny bit that you apparently have," I smiled sarcastically, "Of course, you could always get her to apologise to me, and then we can discuss being friendly to each other once again," I shrugged, straightening up, "Families...they always mess you up in the head a little. Goodbye,"

I moved past him, walking over to look out of the window at the other end of the church. I wanted to just get my head completely clear from all this family stress, which appeared to be the main problem about this whole situation. Rose and I had our parents together, for once, not that they knew it, and me and her weren't talking to each other at all. And there were these creepy Grim Reapers outside wanting to eat all of us. I was all for excitement and adventure, but I did have to add that family might have to be taken out of the schedule. Thank God Mum didn't want to take a step into the TARDIS, which was quickly becoming my worst nightmare.

I looked at the window, before leaning in closer when I caught a glimpse of something behind me. I stared carefully at the glass, seeing the faint outline of a person. The same man I had seen earlier in the bathroom. And I still couldn't make out his face. Great, on top of everything else, I was hallucinating as well. That was just bloody brilliant. I really didn't need this, I needed to concentrate on the matter at hand, not go thinking that I've gone completely insane.

"All right?" I jumped when a hand clapped down onto my shoulder and I turned to look at the Doctor, "Sorry," he apologised, "You were off in your own little world now, needed someway of getting you back down to Earth," he looked over to Stuart and Sarah, "What happens to them?"

"Hmm?" I thought back, "Oh, it's a girl. They call her Rhiannon; she grew up on and around the estate. Was rather good friends with Rose, actually, up until a point," I sighed, "They were married last time I remember, never argue together, always very happy with their lot in life. It's not a fast life or a particularly dangerous one, but it's comfortable. It's different. I don't know whether I could live a life like that," I frowned, "Why did you ask me?"

"I promised to try and save them," he replied, and I tilted my head, "I have an idea but...there's no way that I could manage it without the TARDIS," I wrapped him in a hug, knowing that the loss of his ship was likely a reason for his growing agitation, "If we fix the damage the TARDIS will come back, but the trouble is that..."

"We need the TARDIS to repair the damage," I finished off his sentence, nodding and understanding what he was wanting the TARDIS for. There was another reason which I don't think he would have said even if I asked him. Without his ship he couldn't go anywhere, he couldn't, "Vicious circle we're locked into," I sighed, "I wish there was something I could do to help you. I'm being a bit useless, sorry,"

"You're doing fine," he assured me, his arms tightening around my middle slightly, "Now I have to make sure that the Reapers can't get in at all," he straightened up, "I'll talk to you soon, don't start a fight with anyone,"

I laughed, "Who can I start a fight with?" I questioned, "I've already pissed off the people that are on my list so they're not coming near me," I turned around and was met with Rose, "Perhaps I stand corrected," I folded my arms, "Yes?"

She swallowed, "He knows..." she your document here...

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**It's odd posting these chapters now when I've already written ahead, looking back on what I wrote then, changing stuff around which doesn't fit or doesn't work.**

**Cna't wait to start putting up the chaptrs for The Empty Child though. That's mainly due to Jack, and the gas mask zombies always used to really creep me out as a child.**

**Although on the other hand, I have finally found out the broadcast date for the first episode of Series 7: 1st September, so very pleased at that, even though there's only 5 episodes this year, not including Christmas.**

**Also what do people think of River Song?**

**See you tomorrow!**


	39. Father's Day: Part 4

**Hello people. Updated a little earlier than usual but I doubt anyone will mind at that. Fantastic reviews from all of you. Why was I asking about River Song? Well I can't make my mind up about her so it's always nice to hear other people's opinions.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Father's Day: Part 4

"When you say...he knows," I started, "Do you mean, he knows as in he knows that in a matter of hours the whole world will be devoured by the Reapers, making it highly unlikely that we will survive this, or is it that he knows what you really ought not to have told him," she swallowed, and I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose, "Rose, this is dangerous enough as it is, and you thought that it would be a good idea to tell him?" I shrugged, "On your own head, be it,"

"You're not angry about this?" she asked me, and I looked at her, suddenly far too drained to want to be angry at her. She would do as she wanted to do; I had to accept that with her, "About me telling him, because he worked it out for himself, you know. I didn't tell him outright,"

"Rose," I stepped closer to her, "We're currently in a church with our parents who are twenty years younger than what we are used. There are creatures from outside of time literally banging on the door, and the Doctor doesn't know what to do," I clenched my hands tightly, my nails digging into my palms, "You telling him the truth is...for once, not the stupidest thing that you've done today," I made to move past her and she grabbed my arm, "Please let go of me, Rose, I really don't want to talk to you at the moment,"

She swallowed audibly, "Do you want to talk to him?" she said, and I looked away from her, "Look, I know you have issues with him," I gave her a look that I thought would have made her shut up immediately, but she continued on, "But this is better, isn't it? Not the things outside obviously, but we get to talk to him. We get to find out who he was like in real life, not just what Mum had told us," she looked pleadingly at me, "He gets to find out that she's pregnant, isn't that better?"

I turned to her, biting the inside of my cheek, "He finds out that she's pregnant? Rose...I already told him that you were my sister," she nodded, and I shoved my hands in my pockets, "And what we all end up sitting around a camp fire, singing songs, all happy that we're all alive, because that isn't going to happen, Rose,"

"He's our father," she insisted.

"A man that neither you nor I knew, Rose," I hissed at her, "You don't know him, and neither do I and yet for some reason you think that makes it all right to save him when you know you shouldn't have done it," she glared at me, "We've travelled with the Doctor for how long now? And you still didn't understand that we can't save everyone. We don't even know him for God's sake! Before today, neither of us had met him before,"

"He's our father," she repeated and I turned away from him, making a noise of frustration, "Why shouldn't I try to save him?"

I placed my hands on her shoulders, shaking her a little, "Get it through your head," I snarled at her, "If he is still alive throughout our lives then everything changes. We change, we will not be the same. We might not even be here. This is our personal history and everything might change," she still looked resolute in what she was doing, "Why can't you get your head around the fact that he died, and we can't do anything about that?"

"Why can't you get your head around the fact that I did it," she snapped, "Why can't you just get to know him for once? Why can't you just let yourself be happy to see him for once in your life? You're always so determined to be unhappy when he's mentioned," I couldn't help but slap her across the face at that, and she slapped me back in retaliation, "Don't do that,"

I shoved my hands in my pockets, my cheek stinging at her slap, and from the look of her own cheek, I would bet that hers was as well, "I shouldn't have done that," I muttered, "I'm sorry," she nodded, "It's all..." I looked down, knowing that I had to be completely honest with her, "I've always felt so...angry over the fact that I never knew him, or that he never knew me or even the existence of me. And I think that thought and those feelings are a part of who I am. I've spent ages being angry at him for dying that I am scared. I am scared that he won't be happy or...even want the existence of me," I shifted awkwardly, "And that means more to me than my head says it should," I laughed brokenly, "I guess inside I'm just a small child still wanting to be reassured that her parents love her. Because I don't have that conviction in me anymore,"

"Then meet him," she told me and I looked away, "Meet him and tell him what you feel," I shook my head, resolute on that fact, "Please..." I didn't look at her, "Look, I'm sorry for what I said at the flat, all right," I raised my eyebrows at her, "I didn't get why you were so angry that he's alive," there was a screech outside, "Although I sort of..." she looked at the ceiling, "Alice, he's your father, and he's my father and...I just want everything to be all right between us again," she brushed at her eyes, "I don't want you to be angry with me anymore, and I'm sorry,"

"You hurt me, Rose," I replied to her, "What you said to me did hurt. I'm not infallible, I'm human," I placed my hands to my head, "But I forgive you, because I know you just...wanted to see him, know him," I knew that I had to...had to let go of all the prejudices that I had towards Pete. I had literally never even met him before and so I owed him to listen, "I will listen to him and whatever he has to say..." I acquiesced, and she beamed, "But I have the right to not reply to him," I added, "And I can walk away whenever I want to, yes?"

"Of course you can," she answered me, and grabbed a hold of my hand, "It'll be all right...it will," I didn't say anything knowing that it might not be all right, but I was willing to give a chance. It scared the hell out of me though. I wasn't perfect, I was selfish, and I was insecure. I was human. She led me through the church to where Pete was sitting, "She says that she's willing to talk," she told him, and I sat down on one of the chairs, wiping my hands on my jeans self consciously, "You've met each other before," she sat down on her own chair, "This is..."

"Mary-Anne," Pete finished for her, "We met earlier," he looked over at me, studying me carefully, "So you're Rose's younger sister then," I nodded slowly, not trusting myself to speak calmly with him, "By how much or can't you tell me..."

"Mary-Anne's eighteen," Rose saved me from answering, and I nodded sharply, agreeing with her. I met Pete's eyes before looking away almost immediately, "Jackie..." she swallowed, trying to think hoe to phrase this, "Most people call her Alice though,"

Pete was studying me carefully, "You look like her," he told me, "Jackie," he rubbed his hands together and I noticed that I was doing the same. This was completely insane, and ridiculously surreal, "I'm a Dad..." he marvelled, "I mean I was a Dad before, but...Rose grows up and..." he looked at me, "You get born, and they're both you. That's wonderful," he grinned nervously, "I suppose that I thought you would be a bit useless, what with my genes and all...but you at both of you. How did you get here?"

"You really want to know?" Rose asked hesitantly, looking over to me. I waved a hand, I thought that we had already shot the world to hell already, there was no point lying now. Pete nodded, "Time machine," he stared at her, clearly not believing her, "Cross my heart, it's true. Not everyone has them where we're from, just the Doctor,"

"Blimey," he rubbed his forehead, and I self consciously did the same thing, freezing when I realised what I was doing, and forcibly put my hand down in my lap, "What are you doing here?" he looked around, and I heard a screech of the Reapers outside, "Did you know that these things were coming?" Rose shook her head, and I watched her carefully, "Then...God, my head's spinning," Pete clearly struggled to recompose himself, "What's the future like?" he asked, "What am I like have I gone grey?"

"The future's not so different from here," I spoke, surprising myself when the words came out of my mouth. He looked over at me, "Better technology, I suppose. Better medicine maybe..." I clutched my hands tightly, resting on my knees, unconsciously mirroring him, "You're..." but what I was going to say failed me. I couldn't tell him that he was dead in the future but I couldn't make up a lie either. I was rubbish at lying to anyone.

Pete seemed to sense my hesitation at answering his second question, "What am I...bald?" he laughed at that, and Rose smiled a rather watery smile, "Don't tell me that I've gone bald," he trailed off when he saw both our faces. Rose's frozen expression and me pointedly not looking at him, "Hold on..." he looked at me, "You said that something went wrong...and it was her fault," Now I definitely wasn't going to answer that anytime soon. He sighed, clearly letting us off the hook, "So, if your mate isn't your boyfriend," he addressed Rose, "And I have to say I'm glad, because being your Dad and all. I think he's a bit old for you," I raised an eyebrow in Rose's direction, "Do you have a bloke!"

"Mickey!" I turned toward the sound of Mum's voice as a small figure flew down towards us, latching onto Rose in a huge hug. I stared at the small figure, seeing that it was...but surely not, "Mickey come here! He just grabs onto whatever's passing and holds on for dear life," Mum came walking down the corridor, towards us, "God help his poor girlfriend if he ever finds one,"

I took one look at the little Mickey that was still squeezing Rose in a hug, and burst out into laughter. I really couldn't help myself, but this was literally one thing too many. Rose glared at me, "Shut up," she hissed at me, before trying to peel Mickey off of her, "Sorry sweetheart, you're going to have to let go," she looked up at the ceiling, "And I'm always saying that," I broke down in another wave of giggles, "Oh...shut up, Alice,"

"Sorry," I apologised to Pete and Mum, standing up, "Private joke, I'm gone," I pressed a hand to my mouth as I ducked down the corridor, having to get some space from the family drama that was behind me. I saw the Doctor sitting on one of the pews and decided to walk over to him, "Now I know that the whole world's gone completely insane," I told him, sitting down, "There's a little Mickey running around. Mickey but smaller. I always knew that he was a family friend but I didn't realise that he was here," I looked at what he was rocking slightly, "You have a baby?"

"It's Rose," he replied to me, grinning slightly, "Jackie gave her to me to look after," I snorted at the irony of that sentence, "That's what I thought, how times change. I've been trying to teach her not to bring about the end of the world. It's not going too good," I frowned, "I speak Baby,"

I sat back at that, "Of course you do," I said, "Every time I think that I know who you are, you come out with something like that," I turned the cradle around to look at Baby Rose, "She's cute," Rose's big eyes followed me, and I waved a hand and she blinked, "Blimey, I think I'm going insane. I don't know what real anymore. Baby Rose...Baby Mickey...Mum with curly hair," I looked down, "Still, it could be a lot worse," there was a louder screech outside from the Reapers, "Maybe not,"

"There's a million things that could happen to make this situation a lot worse than it already is," he answered me, and Rose came around the corner, heading for us. The air grew instantly awkward, seeing as neither Rose nor the Doctor had actually talked properly about what happened, other than the shouting in the flat.

Rose tried to smile, pointing behind her, "I better be careful," she said, swallowing heavily, "I think I just imprinted myself on Mickey like a mother chicken," she caught my eye and I averted her look.

She tilted her head, before moving towards the carrier, reaching for the Baby Rose, "No!" the Doctor pushed her back gently, as the Reapers roared outside, "Don't touch the baby," he warned her, "You're both the same person, that's a paradox, and we don't want a paradox with those things outside," he looked back at Baby Rose, "Anything new, any sort of time disturbance makes them stronger. A paradox might let them inside here," Rose looked down, "So don't touch the baby, and you," he looked at me, "Don't touch your mother, she's pregnant with you and it's a little difficult but I don't want to risk any one of those things from getting inside," he sighed, "All right; we weren't going to leave you on your own. But I have no idea what to do. No plan, no idea, no way out,"

"You'll think of something," Rose said, "You always do,"

"The entire Earth is being sterilised," he explained, "This and a few places like it, are all that's left of the human race. We might hold out for a while, but nothing can stop those creatures. They'll get through in the end," Rose looked completely shaken at that, "The walls of the church aren't that old, and there is nothing I can do to stop them," he sighed in frustration, "There used to be laws stopping this type of thing from happening, my people would have stopped this. But they're gone, and I'm going the same way,"

"I didn't know," she started, wiping her eyes, and I knew that she meant it. She didn't know that this would happen and I know that she was really regretting doing this even though she had got to meet him, "If I had realised..." she brushed back more tears, "I'm sorry, I really am," he nodded, and I stood up hugging her tightly. All was forgiven and now we could all work together to find a way out of here. I felt Rose frown as we hugged, "Alice, do you have something hot," I placed her hand in my pocket, before hissing and throwing my key, chain and all, on the ground.

I stared at my key, it was glowing yellow, "It's the TARDIS key!" the Doctor quickly took off his coat, rushing over to it, and picking it up carefully holding it up to the light, "It's telling me that it's still connected to the TARDIS!" he stood up, "Oi, you lot!" he called to everyone, "Come in here!" he rushed up the steps of the pulpit, "Everyone sit down," the guests of the wedding quickly did so, "Now the inside of my ship was thrown out of the wound, but..." he held the key up, "We can use this to get it back. And once I've got my ship back, I can mend everything. I just need a bit of power. Anyone got a battery?"

Stuart suddenly grabbed the large and clunky phone, "Will this do?" he asked, running forward with it, "Is it big enough?" the Doctor grabbed it, taking out the battery, pressing the sonic screwdriver to it, "Good old Dad," I grinned at the fact that everything was now going all right. Everything would return again.

"I just need to charge it up," the Doctor told him, "Then we can bring everyone back, and we can save the world!" that wasn't too tall an order.

There was a tap on my shoulder a few moments later, and I turned around to see Pete standing behind me, "Can we talk?" he asked, and I silently followed him to one of the smaller rooms, "I wanted to ask why you were here," I looked at him, I really didn't want to have to talk to him about this. At least Rose could come up with something on the spot, I literally had nothing to say to him, "I mean 1987 isn't anything special if you've got the whole of time to look out,"

"Why don't you ask Rose?" I replied and he folded his arms, "We just landed here, it was a mistake, believe me,"

"I did ask her, and she didn't answer me properly," He stated plainly, "So I'm asking you," I stared at him, not willing to tell him anything, "For some reason, you don't like me. You don't like looking at me, and you don't like talking to me," I had to turn away at that, "Why can't you tell me?"

I bit my lip, "Please don't ask me," I whispered to him, "Please just don't ask me, we landed here by a coincidence," I moved past him, walking up to the Doctor who placing the key into the air, "Are we nearly finished?" I asked him.

"Just about done," he informed me, the grinding noise of the TARDIS echoing around the church, "Right, no one touches that key," he ordered everyone, "Have you got that? Don't touch it. Anyone touches that key, they'll be...well. Zap," I could see the outline of the TARDIS reappearing, "Just leave it be, and everything's going to turn out ok. We're getting out of here, all of us," he looked over to the bride and groom, "Stuart, Sarah, you're going to get married, just like I said!"

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**So Father's Day is almost done. We are getting thrugh these episodes quickly, aren't we? Seems like only yesterday I was writing 'Dalek'. Still got a long way to go though, and Jack.**

**See you soon!**


	40. Father's Day: Part 5

**So here's the final chapter of Father's Day, and then it's onto the next episode with Jack and the London Blitz, and those creepy gas mask zombies. Hope everone enjoys this chapter and I'll see you tomorrow with the new one.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

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Father's Day: Part 5

Half an hour later, we were still looking at the TARDIS reforming where the altar was. It probably had to be one of the dullest half hours that I would ever spend with the Doctor, but there really wasn't much else to do other than watch it reform, and hope that everything would go all right. Rose turned to the Doctor, opening her mouth and the Doctor looked towards her, already guessing what she was about to ask, "When time gets sorted out, the wound gets healed, everything back to normal," he informed her, and I closed my eyes, "Everyone will forget that this happened. And don't worry, because the thing you changed, will still be changed. Just as you wanted it,"

"You mean that I'll still be alive," I twisted around to see Pete behind us, "Although I'm meant to be dead," Rose looked down in shame, "That's why I've never done anything with my life, because it didn't mean anything. It wasn't leading to anything," he looked over to me, and I stared back, "That's why you can't look me in the eye, and why you're so angry at me. Because I never knew you and you never knew me. I was dead before you were born," he laughed without humour, "I was so useless I couldn't even die properly, and now it's my fault that it's the end of the world," Rose tried to interrupt, "No, Rose, it's not your fault, I'm your Dad, it's my job for it to be my fault,"

"Her Dad?" I closed my eyes as we all turned to look at an irate Jackie, standing in front of us, looking absolutely furious at us. Oh dear, this was not going to end well for any of us. I had seen that look on her face when I had gotten expelled from school. That had been an occasion to remember, I hadn't thought that my ears would ever stop ringing, "Her Dad?" she said, and Pete closed his eyes in silent self admonishment, "How are you her Dad?" she looked at Rose, "Oh that's disgusting, how old were you? Twelve?!" Oh this really wasn't going to well. The Doctor quickly walked off, not wanting to get involved in more of this endless drama, "And you called her Rose? How sick is that?! Did you give my daughter a second hand name? How many are there? Do you call them all Rose?!"

"Oh for God's sake!" Pete stood up, taking hold of the baby in Jackie's arms, holding Baby Rose up to show her, "Look! When I say that her name is Rose," he moved her to where Rose was standing, "It's the same Rose, don't you see?!" and he placed the baby down in my sister's arms, Rose instantly catching the younger version of herself.

"No don't!" the Doctor shouted as he realised what was going on, and that there now was a very big problem. Suddenly there was a loud screech as a Reaper appeared in the hall, opening its wings out, its red eyes seeing us, "Get behind me!" he ordered the whole congregation and we all gathered at the front of the church, "I'm the oldest thing in here, everyone get back!" I stared at him as he walked forward.

"Doctor, get back!" I shouted at him as the Reaper leapt towards us, "Doctor!" I could only stare as the creature leapt on him, enveloping him and I looked away, hearing it eat him, "Doctor?" I stared at the Reaper as it glowed with the light of having just fed. Everyone else in the hall screamed and ran as the Reaper soared around the church to find another victim, but I could only stand there, staring at the space where the Doctor had disappeared. He was gone, and now there was nothing that we could do. I looked up at the Reaper, seeing it suddenly fly into where the TARDIS was materialising. With a massive burst of yellow energy the Reaper disintegrated and I ran forward catching the key as it fell to the ground. I held it up, feeling that it was completely drained of heat, "It's cold," Rose grabbed my shoulder and I saw that the outline of the TARDIS had completely vanished, "The key's cold,"

"Mary-Anne," I pulled out of her grip, walking backwards, clutching onto my TARDIS key with every bit of strength that I had, "Alice, we can fix this," she insisted, "We can do it, we can fix this," I just stared at her, feeling completely numb. There wasn't any other way to get out of this, we were going to die here, every single thing in this whole world was going to die, and there was nothing we could do to fix this, we were stuck, and we were trapped, "Alice,"

I stepped away from her, not wanting to have her comfort me at this point in time, "He'd dead," I said to her, my voice calmer than I felt, "Oh my God, he's dead," Pete ran up to us, and I stared at him, "Everything..." I placed my hands to my head, the key still clutched in my hand, "The whole..." Pete embraced me suddenly. I tried to shake him off, but he held me tight and I collapsed against him, shaking with suppressed tears, "The whole world," I didn't push him away which is what I should have done, instead I clung to him like he was the only lifeline available to me in the ocean of emotions that I had been plunged into. Of all the things that would bring me around to letting my Dad in. I would have laughed if the situation wasn't so absolutely terrible.

The lights suddenly switched off, and I pulled away from Pete, staring out the window as the Reapers scratched down the walls of the church. They were getting in, and they were getting closer, and there was nothing we could do. No TARDIS, no Doctor, not even the bloody sonic screwdriver, "Alice," I walked away from Rose, not wanting to talk to her about the whole situation, I couldn't do anything, "Alice," she grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to sit down on one of the chairs, "I'm sorry,"

"Sorry, Rose?" I smiled at her, but failing miserably, "What's there to be sorry about?" she looked down, "The world is ending and there is nothing that we can do, not a single thing, Rose," I pulled out the fog watch that the Doctor had given to me, my thumb tracing the pattern, "The Doctor's dead. He can't save the world today. No one can. We're stuck in this wound, and I am so scared of what is going to happen," I placed my head in my hands, "It's the end of the world..."

I looked up as Dad's shadow crossed my face. He knelt down in front of me, "The Doctor really cared about you," he looked at Rose, "Both of you, and he didn't want you to have to go through it again, not if there was another way," I frowned at him, "But now there isn't, and there is only one option," I stared at him, "That car should have killed me, and it's here," he chuckled, "The Doctor worked it out way back, but he tried to protect me," he swallowed heavily, "Still he's not in charge anymore. I am,"

"You do that and you die," Rose said dully to him, "You won't have been saved," I rubbed my eyes, "The world or Pete Tyler," I could feel tears prick in my eyes, "That's not fair," I looked at Rose who shook her head at Dad, not wanting to lose him, "You can't do that, we could still go and try to find a way to save everyone. You don't have to die for everyone else in this world. There's still time, we're not dead yet,"

"No," he answered and I rubbed my face hard. I couldn't help it, even though I had tried, even though I had desperately held onto the fact that nothing that would happen here would matter for me, nothing that could allow my Dad to take a place in my life, but it had. I didn't want him to die. I had never wanted him to die in the first place, I still felt like that little girl being told what had happened to her Dad and being so angry at the whole world for taking him away, "I'm your Dad," he hugged us both, and a tear slipped down my face, "I have to do this," he turned to Mum who was staring at us, "Jackie... look at them, they're ours,"

Mum stared at us, realisation dawning as she looked at Rose, "Oh God," she whispered, pulling her into a hug, before turning to look at me, "But how can you be..." she looked down at her stomach, pressing a hand to it lightly, "But I'm not," she looked at Dad, "Oh my God, I'm pregnant,"

"I'm meant to be dead, Jackie," Dad explained to her, and she pressed a hand to her mouth in shock, "You're gonna get rid of me at last," she opened her mouth to protest at that, "For once in your life, trust me," he insisted, and she nodded, "It's got be done. You've got to survive, because you've got to bring up both our daughters. And you can do it, I know you can, because they're here," he pulled her into a kiss, before looking at Rose, "I never read you those bedtime stories. I never took you on those picnics. I was never there for you," he turned to me, "And I'll never be there for you, I'll just be a picture on the wall, I'll never see you as a baby or a teenager," more tears slipped down my face, "But I can do this for you. I can be a proper dad to you now,"

"But it's not fair," Rose burst out and Dad looked at her, "It's not fair that you have to die and everyone else gets to live. It's not fair that you have to do that for everyone, I've only just got you back,"

"But I've had all these extra hours," Dad explained to her, "No-one else in the world has ever had that. And I get to see Mary-Anne, I get another daughter," he smiled at me, "And on top of that... I get to see both of you here with me," he pulled us both in, "And you're beautiful," I pressed my face to his shoulder, trying to remember everything about him. I wanted real memories, "So how lucky am I, eh? So, come on... do as your dad says," Rose picked up the vase, "Are you going to be there for me?" he asked us, and we both nodded. My throat was clogged up with tears and I was unable to speak, "Thanks for saving me," he told Rose, "It means the world,"

"Thank you," I whispered back, "I was so angry at you for dying, but..." I wiped my eyes furiously, "Thank you for saving all of us, and I am so, so sorry," he merely pressed a kiss to my forehead, did the same to Rose, before taking the vase from her, "Goodbye," I murmured as he walked out of the church, not looking behind him. I turned to Rose, and she grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the entrance of the church.

I stared out of the door, seeing Dad run towards the car that had killed him the first time. He looked back at us and smiled softly as he stepped out onto the pavement. I saw the driver throw a hand over his eyes as the car knocked Dad over and this time I didn't look away, merely clutched onto Rose's hand as we watched. As soon as the vase shattered on the ground, the Reapers disappeared one by one. The wound in time had been repaired, but at such a cost. One that I thought that I wouldn't have to pay.

Someone put a hand onto my shoulder, and I jumped turning around. I stared at the Doctor, seeing that he was alive and well. All around us, those that had been previously eaten by the Reapers were standing around the church, "Go to him. Quick," he told Rose and I, and we both instantly ran down the path to the road, heading over to where my Dad lay onto the ground. He was still breathing when we got there, and I grasped his hand as I knelt next to him. My Dad opened his eyes, slowly, and smiled at the both of us before his breathing grew slower and slower until there was nothing left.

I sighed deeply, tears still streaming down my face, before standing up, brushing the dust off my clothes instinctively. I had won and lost my father in a matter of minutes, but now I had a face to the name. Peter Alan Tyler, saviour of the world, something that no one would ever, ever know. My Dad, who loved me even though he had never known me properly or seen any of my life. The most important man in the whole universe for a few so short minutes. I felt at peace with myself now, the anger at my Dad for dying had faded away now, replaced by the respect and love that had always been inside of me. He had saved the world doing only what the Doctor and we had done before now, and I would always remember that. I would never forget it.

I looked back at the wedding guests, seeing my Mum in the crowd straining to see what was going on. She would never remember this although maybe she remembered that she was pregnant. I thought back over my childhood, going through all that, and realised that we had changed things. I remembered Mum showing me the book of photographs alongside Rose and telling me about my Dad. It was strange, it was like there was two sets of events all wrapped up inside my head. The first had definitely happened, but so had the other. I smiled slightly as I looked at Mum. She would survive and so would we. Everything was going to be fine.

I walked towards the Doctor, Rose standing next to me, "We're ready," I told him, and all of us as one walked back to the TARDIS, not looking back. The world had been saved, and it had been saved by my Dad. Perhaps he wasn't the best or the brightest person in the world, but he was my Dad. And that made all the difference.

* * *

"You cared for him in the end, didn't you?"

I looked at the Doctor from where I was sitting in the TARDIS console room, we were back in the TARDIS and the Doctor was fixing a part of the console again. Rose had gone off to sleep. Today had been emotionally taxing on all of us, "Cared for him?" I repeated the question back to him, sardonically, "He was my father, in some shape or form I always cared for him. I just..." I shook my head, "I've always been angry at him for dying, and now I can't be angry because he saved the whole world. Admittedly it would have never happened if Rose hadn't changed things, but..." I rubbed my still slightly red eyes, "Yes, I cared, it's incredibly hard not to, even though he probably thought that hated him,"

"He's your father," he informed me, "Take it from someone that knows, he didn't hate you," I looked t him sceptically, "He died to save the Earth, that doesn't strike me as someone that has the capability of hating their own daughter," I clasped my hands together tightly, half believing him, "Why don't you believe me?"

"He never knew me," I answered him, "And I never knew him, and now in my head there seems to be two different things. One which happened originally and then one that didn't happen to me, and is only there because we changed things," I blinked, "Hold on, is this what you mean by things being in flux? Because things have been changed and my relationship with my mother is slightly better than what it originally was, but it wasn't like this before?"

He nodded, "Time is rewritten all the time apart from the fixed points," he explained, "The only reason why everything got ripped to pieces this time is because there were two of us, and it was a very weak point in time. Whole timeline got ripped apart when things got rewritten, but then everything got sorted out in the end. Time was repaired, at the cost of your Dad. I'm sorry," I nodded at that, "If the TARDIS had been brought back fully then perhaps we could have stabilised his existence but when the paradox occurred then there was no way back from that,"

"You died," I said quietly, "I saw you Doctor, you got eaten by that thing, dying to protect everyone else, and you died," I rubbed my cheeks anxiously, "I felt like the world was going to end when that happened, couldn't feel anything. I didn't think you were going to die," he looked up from what he was fixing, "Promise me that you won't do that again," he sighed, and I chuckled, "Course you can't promise me that, I know you, you would get into trouble just by saying hello to someone on the street if you could. That promise would be quickly broken," I looked at my hands, "Just promise me that you won't try to throw yourself into death situations without thinking about it, think about who you're going to leave behind if you do,"

"I promise I won't die without thinking about it," he told me and I nodded silently, "Now you're worried about my safety, I should be worrying about yours. You could have been eaten by those things if the wind had been blowing the other way. Humans are remarkably flimsy creatures, drop at the slightest thing,"

I rolled my eyes, "Well I'm sorry, Mr Lord of Time, we're not all aliens from another planet who are nine hundred years old," I eyed him, "Although you must have been really lucky if you managed to not die in nine hundred years especially with your lifestyle. You must be like a cat or something. Nine lives and all," he looked at me suddenly, and I smiled sadly at him, "And we've already had this conversation about my safety, now we're talking about yours. Because you know I...care about you a lot, Doctor. When you died today I thought..." I trailed off, and thought over my words, "I thought that I would never see you again. And those words aren't in my vocabulary,"

"There are a lot more things that you should worry over than me," he said to me, and I raised my eyes, "You've got your sister, your mother, living, breathing. All those human things that make up what you are," he looked over me, "It's a big scary adventure out there,"

"Better with you," I retorted, "And in this human make up somewhere, I really do care what happens to you. Because we can shoot around stars and planets and get into the most wonderful trouble, but there is always the end of the day and I am rather determined to make sure that both of us, and Rose reach that end of the day to find another spot of trouble to get into,"

"Mary-Anne Tyler, you might just be the most beautiful contradiction I have ever had the pleasure to meet," he informed me and I smiled properly at him, "Still..." he pressed a button, "There's always the next adventure to see, isn't there?" I moved to stand next to him, "Onwards and upwards,"

I looked at him, gripping his hand, "Just...next time one of us asks to visit someone who is in our personal history who is dead, please, please, just say no, because I think the world is a little more important than, let us say, meeting our great-great-grandparents," he nodded before pulling down a lever and the console whirred into life, "Onwards and upwards then,"

* * *

**I was a little hesitant about what was going to happen at the end of this episode with Pete dying and all. But judging by personal experience, I know that even if you were angry at your Dad for dying, there would be at least some part of you that really wanted some reconcillation.**

**As for the two timelines thing, I was always confused at that episode at the end where Jackie's telling little Rose about the blonde girl being with Pete until he died, because I thought the whole point of Rose going back there was because she wanted to hold his hand. So I used the two timelines thing which Amy had with her parents to make everything a lot more simple, and to close up any confusion, for my sake probably.**

**Well, anyway...here comes Jack.**

**_Next Time:_  
**

**_I accidentally leant against a lever and instantly the TARDIS jolted hard to the side as if something had hit it from the side. I went tumbling to the floor, "What did you do?!"_**

**_"I didn't do anything!" I stood up; the TARDIS rocking around like it was in the middle of the sea in a very bad storm. He looked pointedly at me and I sighed, "I might have accidentally hit a lever,"_**

**_..._**

**_Captain Jack Harkness," I shook his hand, sharing a look with the Doctor, "Been hearing all about you on the way over," he surveyed me, looking at me up and down, "Nice skirt,"_**

**_..._**

**_"The Doctor of Dangerous Exploits and Daring Deeds?" he repeated back at me, and I shrugged, "Makes me sound like a cartoon character," I snapped my diary shut, placing it back in my pocket, "I am a medical Doctor, and some others as well. You think I have this name just for dancing?"_**

**_..._**

**_"Mummy?" I stared at the creatures as they advanced towards us, "Where is my Mummy?" I moved to stand next to the Doctor, as they walked towards us, "Mummy? Mummy?" you know it wouldn't have been so bad but the way that they were saying it as one really, really creeped me out. They shouldn't be doing this, "Mummy, Mummy..."  
_**

**_"Shouldn't we be trying to get to the door?" I hissed at the Doctor, looking towards it and seeing that it was blocked by more people coming towards us, all shouting for their mummies. If a psychiatrist was here at the moment then they'd be having a field day with all of this, "Plan B then?" I proposed, as we were boxed into a corner, "Tell me you have a Plan B,"_**


	41. The Empty Child: Part 1

**So here it is, the first chapter of The Empty Child. Thank you to all those that reviewed and happen that you enjoy this chapter as much as I liked writing it!**

**I'm glad that everyone liked the last chapter. It was a very sad episode, wasn't it, but this one should be a little happier. Even if it does have creepy gas mask creatures that scream for its Mummy**

**Disclaimer: Never and not Mine**

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The Empty Child: Part 1

I didn't do anything. Honestly, I really didn't do anything whatsoever. Whatever anyone else says or writes down, I had nothing to do with what happened, I promise. They're lying. Cross my heart, I swear. You want to know what happened? Well, this is what happened...

We were flying through the Time Vortex, happy as could be. The Doctor had planned to visit Ancient Rome, and was rushing around the console like he was on fire, "You're going to love it," he told me, grinning as he pressed several buttons, "Julius Caesar, Marc Antony...Cleopatra," he grimaced at the name of the Egyptian Queen, "Let's avoid Cleopatra...don't want to mess up history again so soon," he slammed down a lever, "But still Rome...the First Roman Empire, the best fighters in history, took over nearly the whole of Europe,"

I walked around the console, as we rattled around, "Murderous lot though," I answered him, as the TARDIS flew through the time vortex, "I mean the Emperors weren't exactly people friendly...there was that one that killed his mother and his wife, and then there was like five emperors in the same year because they all killed each other for the throne," I looked through a magnifying glass, "So which part of Rome were you thinking of taking us?"

"Just to take a look around," the Doctor proposed, "We could see the Colosseum, the Castel Sant'Angelo or the Pantheon...I can take you to see all the wonderful landmarks of Rome when they were first built and not half ruined as they are when you see them in the twenty-first century. A proper history lesson this time and let's forget Cardiff," I smiled at him, "Press those buttons on the side," I walked around, hitting the ones that he instructed me to, "Very good, now all we have to do is..." I accidentally leant against a lever and instantly the TARDIS jolted hard to the side as if something had hit it from the side. I went tumbling to the floor, "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything!" I stood up; the TARDIS rocking around like it was in the middle of the sea in a very bad storm. He looked pointedly at me and I sighed, "I might have accidentally hit a lever," I flicked the lever that I had hit, but nothing else happened. Nothing else seemed to slam into us, the TARDIS was still rocking around like it was in water, and the Doctor was still rushing around the console, "See, it wasn't me," I told him, triumphantly, "Ever considered that it might have been you that had accidentally done something?" I moved around the console, before pausing, "Actually, was there ever a test that you had to pass in order to drive the TARDIS?"

"Yes," he answered shortly, "And I failed it," I nodded slowly, that would explain why his driving was like that, "Don't say anything," he warned me and I placed my hand over my mouth. Eventually the TARDIS calmed down, the console room once again at peace, "There we go, all better now," he patted the TARDIS gently, "Don't worry about the nasty girl, dear, she didn't mean to make you upset," I raised my eyebrow at his behaviour, and he looked over me, "Are you sure about that skirt?"

I looked down at myself, before spinning around, "You say Ancient Rome, I was thinking warm weather," I explained, defending my choice of clothing. I had only ever been to Paris on a school trip and that had been boiling, so I wasn't taking any chances about what Rome was like. I liked this skirt anyhow, "And besides, I can run in this and not fall over. See..." I showed him my shoes, "I won't fall over; so I'm prepared for anything," my smile faltered, "As long as you don't land us in the middle of winter," his grin told me all I needed to know, "Oh no, that's not fair," I placed my hands on the console and immediately the whole place jerked to the side, "I swear, I'm not doing anything!" I said to him.

I turned to see Rose run into the room, drying her hair, "What's the emergency?" she demanded, "I was in the shower," she accused the Doctor, "And then I was nearly drowned when the whole place tilted on its side. Mind telling me what's going on?" the Doctor looked pointedly at me, "Alice?"

"It's not me!" I protested, sitting down on the chair, throwing up my arms in exasperation, "Maybe the first time, because I accidentally leant against a lever, but not anything else," she opened her mouth, "No seriously, I am not responsible for anything that is going on," I looked at what she was wearing, "Are you sure about that t-shirt?" she merely brushed an invisible bit of dust off the Union Jack, "It's very...patriotic," I compromised, "But I still didn't do anything. Doctor?" I asked the man who was staring at the screen.

"It wasn't you, Mary-Anne," he said distantly, "It was something else," I crowded around the screen to see the image of a round looking object flying through the vortex, "That is what hit us, and you can see the problem with it?" I tilted my head, "It's mauve," that made absolutely no sense to me and from Rose's confused face, neither did she. The Doctor sighed impatiently, clearly annoyed at how slow we were going, "It's the universally recognised colour for danger,"

Now I really was confused, "I thought it was red," I muttered to myself.

He snorted in derision, "No, that's only humans," he pulled the screen towards him again, "To everyone else the use of red means camp," I blinked at that piece of information, "Oh, the misunderstandings," I'll bet, "All those red alerts, all that dancing," that certainly was one way of putting it, "But this thing has got a very basic flight plan, almost criminally easy, but seeing as how clever I am, I've hacked into it and slaved the TARDIS, wherever it goes, so do we. Completely safe..."

"Really?" Rose asked and the console exploded into flames, knocking me to the floor again. It felt like we were falling down a very long tube, there was the familiar feeling in my stomach, like you were on a plane that was about to land, except without the altitude problem, "Care to repeat that again, Doctor?!" she shouted over the roar of noise, and I grabbed onto the railings around the console, hanging onto it as we were thrown around, "What is this thing?!"

"All right, I should have reasonably safe," he corrected, "Reasonably safe is a very good bet," the TARDIS exploded into flames again, "And it's jumping time tracks all over the place, getting away from us!" he grinned at us, and I tried to smile back, although it was a bit difficult, "Why are we chasing it?" he shrugged, "I have no idea. It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the centre of London," I looked at the scanner, seeing the tube like object fall towards the blue green marble that was my world, "Ancient Rome is going to have be put on hold,"

I rolled my eyes, "I doubt we'll ever get to Ancient Rome, Doctor," I said to him and the TARDIS landed with a final thump that made my legs buckle. I pulled myself up, pulling the screen towards me, seeing the outside of the TARDIS. A street of houses, and it was night time, "Definitely Earth, why couldn't it have decided to decided to land onto an alien planet?" I questioned, "Then again, London...Earth. At least we know our way around it," I grabbed my coat off the railings, pulling it on, "What do you think?"

"It's Earth," the Doctor threw open the doors of the TARDIS, "Do you know how long you can knock around time and space without happening to bump into Earth?" he asked us, and then grinned, "Well, it's about five days unless we run out of milk," he sighed at that, "Of all the species, in all the universe and it has to come out of a cow," he looked around before heading down the alleyway, "Whatever it was must have come down quite close to here," he looked back, "Within a mile at the very least," he looked at his watch, "And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Probably a month, it's all very imprecise, we're bound to be a little out,"

"A month!" I stared at him, "How can it have come down a month ago, on the screen, we were right behind it!" I looked up at the dark sky, "Do you have any idea what it actually was?" he shook his head, and I paused, "Hold on, when you say that we're out just a little, does that mean a little as in an actual little or does it mean actually we're way off?"

"It was jumping time tracks all over the place!" he insisted, "Do you know how hard it is to track something that decides to do that?" he turned to me, "Do you want to drive?" I actually quite liked the sound of that, and opened my mouth to tell him that, when he raised a hand preventing me from talking, "Actually, that's a bad idea, you and her teaming up together, might land us anywhere," I pasted an expression of mock outrage on my face, "And when I mean a little, I do mean we're a tiny little bit off?" I leaned on Rose's shoulder, as we both waited for him to explain further, "Ish," he admitted.

We reached the end of the alleyway, hitting a rusty door. I looked around the alley that we had just walked down. For London it did seem to be extremely filthy, we must have been in a particularly run down part. Rubbish was piled up at the sides of the pavement, a cat yelled from a rooftop and there seemed to be a metal bike, rusting and leaning up against a house. Definitely a rather run down area...that or a film set. It was perfectly possible. I turned back to Rose and the Doctor, "So," my sister looked at the Doctor, "What's the plan? Are you going to do a scan for alien technology? Or something?"

He looked at her as if she was stupid, "Rose," he started, "Whatever we were chasing not five minutes ago, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask," he went back to the door and I shrugged at Rose, "I know the human race isn't the brightest of species concerning their intelligence but I think that they could recognise a very loud bang if it was near them. And you do love your newspapers," he whipped out the psychic paper holding it up to us, "Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids," he grinned, "Psychic paper, it..."

"Tell you whatever you want it to tell you, I remember," I answered him, taking it off him, looking at the identification, "But there is a problem with this, I don't think there is a Ministry of Asteroids, and even if there was, what happens if the person you ask is a member of the Ministry, and/or is an expert in asteroids?"

He took the psychic paper off me, "Like I said earlier, the human race aren't the most intelligent, the chances of them actually calling me on what it says is minimal," he rapped the door, "What do you think?" I pressed my ear to listen to what was going on inside. Sounded like quite a party, "Door, people, music. Practically calling for me to come and talk to them?"

I felt that was more than reasonable but apparently that wasn't enough for Rose, "Well I think that you should scan for alien technology," she told him, "I mean it's not very Spock, is it?" the Doctor looked at her as if she was speaking some language that he didn't understand, "Star Trek, Doctor," she explained, "Spock's a character from Star Trek, which apparently you've never heard of before," she sighed, "He's a very clever character, so just give us some Spock," he merely turned back to the door, "It really wouldn't kill you, you know," I merely shrugged and shot her a smile, "Guess that really was too much to ask for,"

"Come on, you two, this won't take a minute," the Doctor started to sonic the door, before looking at me, "Are you really sure about that skirt?" he repeated his question from earlier, and I placed my hands on my hips, "I'm only asking," he opened the door, smiling with superiority at his work, "So come along if you're coming," he disappeared down the darkened corridor, "Don't get left behind,"

"Onwards and upwards, Rose," I told my sister, before walking through the door. Instantly I was surrounded by darkness, so much so that I couldn't see in front of my face, "Oh great," I muttered, placing a hand on the wall, "Darkness. That's a step down from saying 'Nothing could ever go wrong' or 'This is a piece of cake' in adventure terms," I gradually walked down the corridor slowly, "Doctor?" I called out, feeling the rising sense of dread, "Doctor?!" my voice grew louder. Blimey how long could a corridor go on for. I fished for my phone, holding the weak light up to try and see any further. There was nothing in front of me, "If you're right behind me, Doctor, then I am going to kill you,"

"Charming," I leapt about a foot, and turned around, seeing that the Doctor was in fact, right behind me. I hit him on the arm, "Ow, that hurt," he moved past me, "When did you get so vicious?"

"When I decided to take a walkabouts down a very dark corridor," I muttered, and he handed me a large torch, "Where do you put all these things?" I asked him, switching it on. I was so glad when the light hit another door where loud music was pouring out of it, "Music, laughter, I am intrigued, and we can find out where exactly that piece of alien tech landed," I looked behind me, frowning when I saw Rose looking up at the sky, "Hurry up!" I rolled my eyes when she merely nodded distractedly back. Oh she'd catch us up eventually. It wasn't like she didn't know which way we had gone.

The Doctor took my hand opening the door, and I pocketed the torch, walking into the room. It looked like a scene from one of those films that you see as a child. Like the film Titanic before it got to the part where the ship sank and Jack died. There was a girl singing at a large microphone at the front of the room, men and women sitting at round tables watching her and chatting away to each other, friendly as could be, "I like it," I told the Doctor, seeing a the bartender polish a shiny glass, "It's very cosy. Where are we exactly, or when?"

"We're in London, like I said earlier," he answered, "But I have no idea when," the girl at the microphone finally finished her song, "Stay here, and I'll just ask this lot about the thing that fell from the sky," I nodded, and he quickly leapt up to the microphone stand, "Excuse me!" he called, "Sorry, excuse me, could I have everyone's attention, just for a moment? Very quick. Hello?" everyone in the room turned to him, "This might sound like a stupid question," he folded his arms, "Has anything fallen from the sky recently?" there was a very long pause before one person laughed, and then another. Soon the whole room was laughing at the Doctor who just looked completely confused, "Sorry, am I saying something funny?" he inquired, "There's this thing that I have to find. Would have fallen from the sky a few days ago," I looked behind me, something catching my eye, and I walked over to it, seeing that it was a poster. I straightened it out, before groaning at the picture. A whine outside started up, and I took down the poster, just as everyone started leaving, "Would have landed quite near here...with a very loud..." I opened the poster in front of me so that he could see what was on it, "Bang?"

He looked very embarrassed now, "Guess we don't need to check the TARDIS for the date then, Doctor," I told him, looking at the picture for a falling bomb, and the warning of an air raid attack, "1941...height of the London Blitz," I grinned at him, "Guess there would be quite a few things falling from sky in this period of London History,"

* * *

**So we're into another episode and everyone seems to like this one as it has Jack. We all like Jack.**

**See you tomorrow!**


	42. The Empty Child: Part 2

**So here's the second part of The Empty Child. Rose has wandered off...again, so we continue on with the story. Hope no one's getting bored of this story, but from the reviews I'm glad you like it so far. We'll be soon into the last couple of episodes soon. Then 'Bad Wolf' and the 'Parting of the Ways' which is always very sad as the end of the Ninth Doctor.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

The Empty Child: Part 2

After that failure of trying to ask someone about the object that had fallen from the sky a month ago, e had left the room pretty quickly, once again going back the way we came towards the TARDIS, perhaps now we would scan for alien life. I mean...1941. I'd always read about the London Blitz, I think that every British kid in the whole country in the latter half of the twentieth century knew about the bombing that happened nearly every night. My nan had been living here as a girl, and now I was right here, seeing it for real. Perhaps it wasn't the best place to be, the chances of having a bomb dropped on our heads were slightly higher than if we were in Ancient Rome, but I had to say that I wasn't complaining about being here.

The Doctor however was clearly a little irritated that he hadn't worked out when and where we exactly were, and we walked up the corridor into the moonlight at the other end in silence. I looked around the hallways, expecting to see my sister leaning against a wall in the alley, or even just being in plain sight, "Rose?" I called out, turning in a circle, searching for my sister, "Rose?" I sighed, not finding her anywhere, "Of all a time to go to the bathroom," I walked up to the TARDIS, opening the door and sticking my head inside, "Rose!" there wasn't any answer, and I closed the door behind me, "Rose?" at the silence that greeted me, it was clear that Rose wasn't where she should be. I stepped outside again, shutting the blue door and turning to the Doctor, "She's not in there,"

He rolled his eyes, and there was a soft meow from a cat that was sitting on a low wall, "You know, one day," he told me, "Just one day, maybe I'm going to meet someone who gets the wholes don't wander off thing," I opened my mouth and he pointed at me, "And don't say that you haven't wandered off. The only reason why you haven't yet is because I make sure that you are with me. You're noticeable," I thought that over, feeling slightly pleased at his comment, "But seriously, seven hundred years of phone box travel, it's the only thing that would surprise me," there was a sudden ringing and both of us froze, "Please tell me that ringing is your phone," he said quietly.

I quickly dug out my mobile from my pocket, checking it, but I already knew that it wasn't the ringtone that I used, "It's not me," I showed him the screen, "You see? It's not me that's ringing," I turned around to look at the TARDIS, "I know you have a phone inside but I didn't think that it was loud enough so that you could hear it from all the way out here,"

"You can't," he answered me, "It's not even a real phone," he walked up to it, flipping open the panel and seeing the phone that was hidden inside, "You see?" he showed the phone to me, "It's not a real phone, just like this isn't a real police phone box, so how can it be ringing?" he looked up at the TARDIS, clearly frustrated at the lack of progress that he was getting today. We hadn't gotten any further with the mysterious object and we had a ringing phone that shouldn't be ringing, "How can you be ringing?" he demanded, "What's that about...ringing?" he buzzed it with his screwdriver, "What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?"

We both looked at each other, coming to the obvious answer at the same time. I looked at the still ringing phone, nervous about answering it, before reaching for it. I had to say that I was very, very curious about answering it, wanting to know who was clever enough to make even the Doctor puzzled over in how they were managing to use something that wasn't even real. I was just about to pick it up when a voice rang out behind us, "Don't answer it," I jumped around to look behind me. Not even half an hour in 1941 and I had already nearly lost an inch of my life. The girl behind me was small, about the same age as me, but dressed in a large duffel coat. She was also completely still, like she had been watching us for a while, "It's not for you," she added, "And I'm telling you. Don't ask it,"

"How do you know that?" the Doctor asked her, "I mean, if you know so much then tell me how can it be ringing?" he looked back at the phone, "I mean this isn't even a real phone, it's not connected to anything. so how come..." he looked up at where the girl was, but she had disappeared, "Ok...she was really helpful for us,"

"I don't know," I argued, looking in the direction that she must have gone, "She seems to know a lot about what's happening and why exactly the phone is ringing," I prodded said phone lightly, "And you know, they do say that the best way of seeing how good at swimming you are is by jumping in the deep end of the pool," he frowned at my logic and I picked up the phone, pressing it to my ear, "Hello?" there was a crackle of static on the other end, "This is Mary-Anne Tyler speaking, although you can call me Alice," still nothing, "You seem to have called this phone. And my good friend says that it's not a real phone, so how can you be calling?" nothing, "Can I help you?"

"Mummy?" I froze slightly at the sound of a child's voice on the other end, "Mummy?" I held the phone out to the Doctor who also pressed it to his ear, listening carefully, "Are you my mummy?" the little boy asked on the other end of the phone.

"Who is this?" the Doctor asked, "Who's calling this phone?" I could faintly hear the person on the other end repeating the same word of Mummy, over and over again, "How did you phone here? This isn't a real phone, this isn't even connected, so how did you..." he stared at the phone, "Disconnected," he answered, "Technically it was never connected, but somehow a child managed to phone us?" he frowned, placing it on its holder, and shutting the small door, "Well, we know who apparently has all the answers and I want to know how exactly my phone got a call at..." he checked his watch, "Half nine at night,"

"I think she went this way, Doctor," I gestured to a hole in the wall, and I walked through, "So Rose has decided to slip off in the middle of the London Blitz," I remarked to him as he squeezed through, "I'll give her a ring if we haven't found her in half an hour. There's only so far she could go," I looked up at the sky, hearing the drone of several dozen tiny aeroplanes all the way up in the sky, "Unless we get a bomb dropped on our heads, that would be quite the dampener on the whole evening, really,"

"Don't worry, the chances of them hitting anywhere near us are..." he thought it over, "Fifty five percent," I stared at him in slight fear. I would say that the chances of getting bombed were just over fifty percent was something to get worried about, "Right," he smiled at me, "But don't worry, we'll be very careful about running into anything like that," I just laughed, shaking my head, and walking past him, "I think the skirt's growing on me," he took my hand and we walked along the road, "Still...got to be careful, 1941, it's not exactly well known for its liberalism,"

"I don't know," I shrugged, "So long as no one see me and we're not here when it's daylight then I think I'd be completely fine," I heard the faint shouting of voices in the next garden to us, "Either way, I like this skirt," I crossed over to where a bin had been shoved against a wall, "Got you, mysterious disappearing person," I looked over to the Doctor, "Care to help me up?" he holdout his hand, supporting me as I stepped on the rickety shelf, and I peered over into the garden seeing a family crowd out into the garden. Air warning sirens, and an air raid bunker...now why would a girl like that be interested in a place like this, I looked down at the Doctor, "You know, you can get up here to see if you want," I stated, and helped him stand next to me, "That's better, isn't it?"

"Middle of dinner, every time!" a man shouted in the garden and we both looked to see someone come out of the house, "Blooming Germans, don't they eat?" he looked up at the sky, "Don't you eat?!" he roared up there, and I chuckled quietly as his wife practically forced him into the shelter. We watched silently as the bickering of the family died down and a shadow in the garden detected itself from the darkness darting into the house. It was the girl from earlier, and she had gone in the house. The Doctor and I shared a look together.

"Put it this way, Doctor," I said to him, "It's not like breaking and entering is the worst that we've done together," I shrugged, "Except surely she knows that there is an air raid going on at the moment and any minute now she might get blown to piece? She must have heard the air raid siren, so why isn't she in a public shelter?"

"Who knows," he replied to me, "But the only way we are going to talk to her without her running off is by going in there," he grinned suddenly, "Do you want to go first or..." I shot him a glare, placing one foot on the wall, and scrambling over in a very inelegant way, dropping to the ground lightly, "You're getting quite good at getting through tight spaces," he whispered over the wall, before he lightly dropped down next to me, "Lead the way, Miss Tyler," I pulled out the torch that he had given me, clicking it on, and treading over the plants.

I had almost gotten to the door when the Doctor suddenly pulled me back into the shadow of the house, one hand over my mouth so I couldn't make a noise and the other switching the torch off. I stood completely still, my back pressed to his chest as two children ran across the garden and into the house. I could feel my heart beating at a hundred miles a minute as we stood there in the garden, with absolutely no space between us. Another three children ran in as we stood there and eventually the Doctor lowered his hand, "W-we better get i-in there," I stuttered slightly, and he nodded without saying anything. I followed him into the house, walking quietly behind him.

We passed the dining room and I saw the children that had passed us all around the table, "Follow me," the Doctor whispered to me, "Because if they see us then they'll probably run as fast as they can," I merely nodded my head, and he grasped my hand, walking quietly around the table, until we got to a pair of empty seats, sitting down without having being noticed once. Really, either these were the most unobservant children in the whole of London or it was just because it was the Doctor and he could get anywhere he wanted without being noticed. A large plate of meat was being handed around the children and the Doctor took it with a grin, "Thanks, miss," he said out loud, passing it onto me.

All of the children froze looking at us, "It's good here, isn't it?" I said, smiling, and taking a slice of meat, putting the plate down in front of a small girl, "I've been living on nothing but pasta and fish fingers for the past couple of days, not together, but still..." I looked around the table, "Who has the salt?"

All the children immediately leapt for the door, "It's all right, everybody stay where they are!" the girl that we had followed said calmly, and they all looked at her. Right so she was clearly the leader of this ragtag crew. She certainly looked older than all of them, "Back to your seats. This isn't their house, he shouldn't be here either," the kids slowly returned to where they were sitting before, "What do you want?" she asked us,

"A quiet life," the Doctor answered, and I looked at him. He placed a large smile on his face, "So you lot, what's the story? You're homeless, right? And sleeping, living rough," all of the children stared at him and he sighed, eating a potato, "Don't worry, we're not coppers. What's a copper going to do to you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving?" he laughed slightly, before looking at his watch, frowning at the sight of all children, "I made it 1941, you lot shouldn't even be in London. Should've been evacuated to the country by now,"

"I was evacuated," a boy spoke up from the other end of the table, "They sent me to a farm," he shifted uncomfortably, "There was a man..." he looked down, "But we're better on the street anyway, there's nicer food," I sat back watching him, "Nancy always finds the best meals. None of us go hungry,"

"So that's what you do, is it Nancy?" the Doctor inquired of the girl at the other end of the table, "Soon as the sirens go off, you find a big, fat family meal, still warm on the table with the whole family down the air raid shelter, and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London town. Puddings for all, so long as the bombs don't get you," he grinned, "It's brilliant although..." he thought about it, "Not sure whether it's Marxism in action or a West End musical,"

That was rather an important thing to consider, it was all very well feeding the children of London with the meals of other people, but there was the bombs to consider. It was only so long until one decided to fall on them, and that would be the end of that, "Is there something wrong with that?" Nancy demanded and we both grinned at her, "Why did you follow me? What do you want?"

"We want to know why you seem to know about a phone that has no business with ringing," I informed her, spearing a sprout, "And how exactly it can get a phone call," I chewed, looking at her, "Also I'm looking for a blonde in a Union Jack, not any old one, a specific one. She's my sister and we can't seem to find her. She wandered off when we were looking for something, so if any of you..." I looked around at the small children sitting around the table, "Have seen her then please tell us and I'll be extremely grateful for the information," Nancy stood up, taking my plate away and then banging down on the other end, "What did I do wrong?"

"You were talking while you were eating," she said brashly and the children all laughed at me. I folded my arms, a little miffed, "No blondes, not Union Jacks. And I did you a favour, I told you not to answer it. That's all I'm going to tell you," Well that was maddeningly unhelpful, and told us pretty much nothing, "Anything else before you leave?"

"Yeah actually, one more thing, thanks for asking," the Doctor grabbed a napkin and starting drawing on it, "Something else we're looking for, would have fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb," I kept my eyes on Nancy who was staring at us, "Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded, probably just buried itself in the ground," now I definitely knew that she knew something from the way that she was completely still, "And it would have looked something this," he held up the napkin, a very rough drawing of the object that we were chasing shown on it.

But none of the children were looking at us, instead they were looking behind us, fear showing in their eyes, "Is something wrong?" I asked them, before turning around and seeing a tiny hand pressed against the pane of glass, "What is that?"

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**And so enters the very small and creepy child. Trust Steven Moffat to come up with something like this. I still get completely freaked out by the angels in 'Blink'**


	43. The Empty Child: Part 3

**Thank you for all those that reviewed. TheGirlWhoImagined, grapejuice101, DragonRose4, Shaybo27, sailormajinmoon and M, I love hearing what all of you have to say. I'm going to have to do something for you, since you've practically been here since the beginning. Maybe if you suggest something that you'd like to see in the future then I could write it in.**

**I always love hearing new ideas, because I have only got one head and I can't think of everything.**

**So on to the third part of The Empty Child. Hope you enjoy it, I did. Rose has gotten lost with Captain Jack, the creepy child is banging on the window pane. And I really ought to let you just carry on reading the chapter.**

**So here you go.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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The Empty Child: Part 3

The children were moving restlessly and I stood up, going to the window and opening the curtains. A child was standing outside, a gas mask over his face, "Mummy," I stiffened when I heard the same voice that I heard when I had answered the TARDIS phone, "Mummy? Are you in there Mummy?" the little boy called out and I turned to the Doctor who was frowning at the small child probably recognising the voice, "Mummy, please let me in. Please," I brushed the curtain back further, staring at the small child, "Are you my Mummy?"

"Doctor, that's the same child that called the TARDIS," I said to the Doctor, "The exact same child's voice," the Doctor didn't say anything and I stared at him, "What's a child doing out there?" I turned to Nancy who was staring at the small child like he was devil himself. I couldn't understand her reaction to the child, "Why don't let him in, Nancy? There has to be enough food in here to feed him as well," she didn't answer me, staring mutely at the small child, looking terrified at the prospect of letting him into the house, "Fine, don't answer my questions then. I'll be fine without any answers,"

"Who was the last one in?" Nancy whispered to the children, who pointed at us, "No, they came in the back way. Who came through the front?" one little boy raised his hand, trembling. I stared at them, they were acting like the child was something dangerous. Whoever the child was, none of the other homeless kids wanted him inside the house, "Did you close the door?" she asked him, and the boy stuttered, clearly thinking back, "Did you close the door?!" she demanded, and I turned back to the window to see the child walking towards the front door.

Nancy leapt into action, running towards the front door. I quickly picked up my coat,following her out of the room to see her slam the door on the little boy, locking it firmly and bolting it shut. She pressed her back against the door, her eyes closed, almost praying that the child wouldn't come in, "What's this then?" the Doctor asked her and I leant against the doorframe, watching her carefully. The Doctor seemed as concerned at what was happening as I was. It was weird, "It's never easy, you know, being the only child left out in the cold. Believe I do know how that feels like. It's not a particularly nice feeling, if you wanted to know,"

"Mister, it's not exactly a child," Nancy tried to explain to us, and I raised my eyebrows at her, "He's not exactly human," there was a loud knocking on the door, the child no doubt wanting to be let in. She pushed past us into the dining room, "Right everyone out now, across the back garden, under the fence," the children scrambled for their hats and coats, scarpering out of the door, past us and through the back gate. Only one little girl remained, and Nancy pulled her up, anxious to get her away from the house, "Come on, baby," she told her, "We've got to go, it's just like a game, just like chasing!" the little girl nodded, before following the other children.

"Mummy?" I looked back towards the door where the child's outline could clearly be seen through the door, "Let me in, Mummy, please," I stepped towards it, seeing a hand stick through the letterbox, appearing to be searching for something, "Let me in, please," I stared at the grubby little hand, seeing that it was scarred on the back, still clearly healing, "Mummy, I'm scared, please don't leave me alone. I'm scared Mummy, I'm scared of the bombs," I moved towards the child, curious about why Nancy was so scared of him. It was just a small child, maybe around four or five. So why were they so terrifying?

"Miss...?" I looked back at Nancy and she threw a vase at the door, the hand retreating back through the letterbox, "You mustn't let him touch you," I frowned at her, as she walked backwards towards the door, "If you let him touch you then he'll make you like him. He'll make you empty," I turned around, seeing the small child again, and suddenly the phone next to me started ringing, "It's him, I don't know how but he can make phones ring. He can, you saw it with that police box phone," she backed away, "You stay here if you want, but I'm going," she disappeared down the hallways.

I hesitated before picked up the phone, holding it to my ear, "Mummy?" the small child's voice echoed in my ear and I passed it over to the Doctor, "Are you my mummy?" the Doctor dropped the phone down onto the handset again and almost immediately music started playing back in the dining room, "Mummy...mummy...mummy," now I was seriously spooked. There wasn't any mention of this in the history books about the Blitz, so what on Earth was going on, "Are you my mummy?" I turned around seeing a small monkey with cymbals turning around with the voice coming out of the speaker, "Are you my mummy?"

"Your mummy isn't here," the Doctor told the child, kneeling down and everything turned off. The ringing, the music and toy monkey all fell silent, "Your Mummy isn't here, nobody here but us chickens," he looked around, seeing that Nancy had disappeared, "Well two chickens, but Mary-Anne is really very nice," I hit him lightly on the shoulder at that, but he merely leaned forward, in interest, "Why are those children frightened of you?"

There was a pause and then, "Please, Mummy...please let me in. I'm scared...I'm frightened of the bombs, Mummy," I let out a shaky breath. Why was this child calling for help from its Mummy, why didn't it know where its Mummy was? "Please let me in, I'm scared of the bombs, Mummy,"

The Doctor looked up at me, and I shrugged, before moving forward. The Doctor caught my arm, stopping me from moving forward, "It's a child," I whispered at him, "No matter how frightened those children are that a small four year old boy is calling for his Mummy, and pleading to be let in, I think we can probably say that both of us, together, can overpower one little boy if it comes to it," he let my arm go reluctantly and I approached the door, "I'm going to open the door now," I told the little boy, unbolting the door, and turning the lock. I opened the door, looking out onto the street. There was nothing inside, "Now that's just rude," I walked into the street, and the child was nowhere in sight, "Seriously, that's rude," I looked back at the Doctor, "Now what are we meant to do?"

He stood up, "You still got that torch?" he asked, and I held it up, clicking it on and off, "Good, we're going to follow the answers, providing that she hasn't decided to run off on us. That would be very inconvenient," I moved back through the house with him, "So, there's a child that isn't a child, that other children are frightened of," he summed up, " Your sister has decided to go walkabouts, and we are following a girl that doesn't appear to want to give us answers," he helped me over the back wall, "Have I missed anything out?"

"We're in 1941, at the height of the London Blitz," I finished for him as he dropped down next to me, and he grinned, "In the middle of an air raid," I reiterated, "Where a German bomb could land on us at any moment in time. Of all the places to land a mysterious alien object that fell from the sky to land right here in the middle of London," we walked down the road, "How do we know that we are going in the right direction? Nancy could have gone anywhere, either one way or the other. Are you sure you know where to go?"

"I know exactly where she's going," he announced proudly, "I trust my nose, and it's telling me exactly where she is going," Naturally I didn't believe him when he said that. He didn't have a magic nose, he had probably just seen where she was going, "Anyway, who needs Ancient Rome when we have the London Blitz?" he looked up at the sky where the fighter planes were blasting each other out of the sky, "Amazing technology for this time really, and you use it to fight a World War," a barrage balloon drifted over us, "And you have great big balloons in the sky that are filled with explosive gas while aeroplanes shoot each other. Humans, you just don't think of the obvious,"

"Hey," I warned him, clicking the torch at his face, "It's not my time," I looked at the balloon, "Might you, I wouldn't mind having one of them. Be a lot easier than having a car, you could just tie it up wherever you happened to visit. You'd have to avoid airports, but I think that it would work," I thought about that for a second, "Maybe without the explosive gas though, that would be rather dangerous,"

We continued walking down the road, discussing various things. When I mentioned Winston Churchill, the Doctor broke out into a large smile, "Ahh Winston," he said, "I'm good friends with him, you know," I looked up at him, "Saved his life a couple of times, and some of them haven't even happened to him yet," he checked his watch, "1941, he'd be in the Cabinet War Rooms at the moment, finding out how to stop the war with Germany. We better not go and visit him, we'll be there all day, got to sort this out before anything else happens. You'd like him, he's very forward thinking. Desperately wants to end the war though, keeps trying to convince me to use my TARDIS to stop the Germans," he sighed, "World War Two, can't change that. Even if it could save millions of people,"

"It must be hard," I sighed, as we walked besides the train tracks, "You say that most of time can be rewritten but there are points in time that can't be and those are the points that must be the ones that most people die in. You must want to always go back and change what happens in those points, but you can because then everything goes wibbly," he made a noise of derision when I used that word and I grinned up at him, "I think it makes you more human to want to change something that can't be changed than have the attitude that because it can't be changed then you shouldn't worry about what happens,"

"I'm only as good as the people that travel with me," he admitted, clutching my hand, "Otherwise I'd be rattling around on my own and I'm not so good with only me talking to my head," he nudged me lightly, "Plus you're all so impressed at everything that I show you. Space and time,"

"I'd like you to find someone who honestly wasn't impressed by what you could do," I said to him, "The whole of time and space might be at your fingertips, but the most that I could have at my fingertips when I was back in London in..." I calculated swiftly, "Sixty four years, was my remote, my keys and my phone. So having time and space is slightly more than I was used to," I smiled cheekily, "But only very slightly," I teased him.

"Oh of course," he replied, pulling me along, "Only slightly," I grinned, as we ran down the side street onto the side of the train tracks, "Look..." he pointed out Nancy in the distance, "I told you that we were going the right way," he said and I rolled my eyes, good humoured, "Always trust this nose, Mary-Anne, it's never ever wrong. Come along..." we ran lightly towards the smaller girl, watching as she went inside an old rusted out shell of a car, placing food in the compartments, clearly for later.

She stood up before turning around, and jumping out of the skin when she saw both of us. I waved cheerily at her, "How did you follow me?" she demanded, and the Doctor Morley grinned at her, "People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to,"

"I'm good at following, I am," the Doctor told her proudly, "I've got the nose for it," he grinned at her, "My nose has special powers," I rolled my eyes at Nancy to show that he was just being silly, and he was often like this.

Nancy looked amused at him, "Yeah, is that why it's so..." she trailed off and I stifled a grin, looking at the Doctor's nose, knowing exactly what she was implying about the Doctor's nose, "Nothing..." the Doctor folded his arms, wanting to know what she was talking about, "Nothing!" she paused, "Do your ears have special powers too?"

Now I did laugh out loud at that, and I leant against the rusty car, giggling at that Doctor, "What are you trying to say?" he questioned of the girl, who merely looked rather amused at him. He looked down at me, "Is she trying to say that my ears are big?" I bit my lip, preferring to stay rather quiet, "Never mind," I turned to where Nancy was only to see that she had moved to run off, "Nancy," his voice was serious again, and she looked back at us, "There's something that's chasing you and the other children. It looks like a little boy, but isn't a boy. And all this started about a month ago. Right?" she was silent, "The thing that we're looking for. The thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed, and you know what I'm talking about,"

Nancy hesitated, clearly reluctant to talk to both us about whatever happened, "There was a bomb," she explained, "A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell at one end of Limehouse Green Station," she swallowed, "There's soldiers all round it now, guarding it. Barbed wire. You'd never get through that if you wanted to get there,"

"Take us there," I said to her and she shook her head, "Oh come on," I grinned at her, "We've just followed you from one end of London to the other and you said that nobody could follow you if you didn't want them to. And you don't think that we can't get through a poxy bit of barbed wire," she still looked like she wasn't sure, "What's the worst that could happen?"

She sighed, "Are you sure that you want to get through there?" She asked us and both of us nodded, "Then you have to talk to someone before hand. Then you might not want to go and see whatever it was," I merely leaned against the car again watching her, "You need to talk to the Doctor,"

I looked up at the Doctor next to me, who looked as confused as I felt, "There's two of you?" I demanded to him, and he shrugged, clearly not knowing the answer to the question, "Well," I turned to Nancy who was watching both of us, "Take us to the Doctor,"

Now I knew that this would be interesting to see.

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**So we are nearly to Jack. Very nearly. So just hang in there. Although I do like writing the conversations between the scenes in the episodes just as much. Meh, it's my imagination run wild.**

**I'd love to hear what all of you think about this, what I should do, what I shouldn't do, what I didn't do right, what I did do right. Even if it's just a word or a smiley face then at least I know vaguely what you think about my work.**

**You could even just say Update, and then it'll remind me to do just that.**

**See you soon.**

**P.S. I think I've worked out what happens in Bad Wolf and Parting of the Ways, so you are very welcome to guess if you so wish.**

**P.P.S. And I'm very excited for Series Two. Lots and lots of ideas mainly concerning Tooth and Claw. I'll let you ponder that.**


	44. The Empty Child: Part 4

**Thank you so much for your reviews. It's always wonderful to hear what people think about my story, or the chapter, or both.**

**TheGirlWhoImagined- Will Alice be changed by the Bad Wolf? Maybe... but if it is then hopefully it won't be what you think it will be. Keep people on their toes. Will the Doctor ever get romantically involved with each other? They are gradually moving towards that point, but I do believe that you can't have a strong romantic bond with someone without being really good friends before hand. Did this answer your questions?**

**sailormajinmoon- Jack will definiately be in the next chapter, and I'm glad you like the story so far. Looking forward to Bad Wolf, well so am I, so hoping that everyone likes it just as much as I liked writing it. Hoping that it's going to be a little different from what other stories are like.**

**Shaybo27- I love Merlin as well, so looking forward to the new series, but half sad because it might be the last one. :( Jack in the next chapter definitely and the chapters beyond hat so lots to ook forward to. And yes...Alice is scared of wolves. Let you ponder on that.**

**LifeShutterSpeed- Ahh, thank you for your review. I do like writing the bits betwen the scenes probably more than I like the actual scenes. Probably because it's my words. You're anxious about the little notes at the end? Well...I would be more anxious about the ending of Series 1 than Series 2, because I think I've managed to formulate what exactly I am going to do. Hopefully you will like it.**

**DragonRose4- Churchill in Series 5, and 6 if we are counting the aborted timeline that never really happened. Will they get there then? Hopefully...if my plan goes all right. So glad you liked this chapter. Thank you for reviewing.**

**Ryn of Magic- Now there is an idea...**

**grapejuice101- Jack being flirty? Is there ever a Jack that isn't flirty towards someone? Don't worry, I've put it in. Thank you so much for reviewing again.**

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The Empty Child: Part 4

It was a relatively short journey to Limehouse Green Station, and Nancy led from the front, "So what's our plan once we get to see what exactly has fallen at the train station?" I asked the Doctor as we walked along after Nancy, "Just wave the psychic paper at them, say you're Doctor John Smith from the Ministry of Unexplained Airborne Objects, just coming to take a look at the newest thing that Hitler has decided to send down to London, and waltz on past them?" I shrugged, "Because you know, they're soldiers, I bet that they have to report to some higher up to let anyone through, and I don't know about you and me, but this skirt is not going to let us through,"

"I did wonder at it," he informed me and I sniffed, pretending to be hurt at his comment, "Anyway, don't forget I have a vey good friend in the Cabinet Rooms," he boasted slightly, "If it comes to the worst then we can just give him a call," he seemed strangely optimistic about that fact, "And when we figured out what exactly was thrown at us in the Time Vortex, we can then go and find your wayward sister," he grinned, "She can't have gone far, I mean how many ways can she have gone away from the TARDIS, and she is wearing a Union Jack as a t-shirt. Anyone who would have seen her would probably be able to recall what she looked like,"

"You say that with just certainty, Doctor," I replied, before holding up my phone, "Of course, she does have her phone on her and I have her on speed dial. I think that it'll get right through to her without much difficulty," he sighed before nodding, "Oh good," we walked up a flight of iron steps. I moved forward to Nancy, "So this bomb that fell at the train station, what did it do?" she looked at me silently, and I understood what she was trying to tell me, "Oh..." I ran my hands through my hair awkwardly, "Sorry, I'm Alice, and this is the Doctor," she raised and eyebrow, "The...other Doctor, what's the name of your Doctor?"

"I dunno," she frowned, "I never thought to ask him what his name was," now I was the one to raise my eyebrows, "I make a point not to make friends with too many adults, Miss, they tend to asks too many questions," I shifted at that, "How old are you, anyway?"

"Eighteen," I said to her, grinning, "You look about the same age as me, maybe a bit younger. Anyway, I'm not criticising you or anything, most adults don't know what they're talking about in the first place so you're not going to hear any real complaints from me about what you're doing with the kids that are sleeping homeless. So long as you don't get into trouble for it," I nodded towards the Doctor, "We always end up breaking into places, and getting caught while doing it. I don't mind though, it makes life a lot more interesting. Especially when we get caught," I lowered my voice, "Although don't tell him that,"

"I break into people's houses because I've got fifteen small children starving," she said brusquely, "And I've never been caught before now, and I've never been followed before today by you two," I merely smiled at her, and we crossed over the bridge, "Here we are," she pointed over to where I could see a large orange coloured tarpaulin which was behind large iron fences, "Can you see that?" she said to us, and the Doctor took out a pair of binoculars, putting them to his eyes, "The bomb's under that tarpaulin," she explained, "They put up the fence overnight," she then gestured to a building slightly further away, "See that building? The hospital? That's where the Doctor is. You should talk to him, and then maybe you won't want to get inside,"

"You're not going to convince me to not get inside that bomb site," the Doctor informed her, and she sighed, "I need to see what damage that it cause and what it actually did. It's caused me a lot of trouble and I want to know how to get in there as well," Nancy turned away, going up the steps of the bridge, "Can I ask you a question?" she looked back at him, "Who did you lose?" she started suddenly, "The way that you look after all those children. It's because you've lost someone, isn't it? and you're doing all this to make up for it,"

She paused, her face suddenly showing absolute misery, "My little brother," she admitted, "Jamie," she sighed, "We had a place near here, hovel more like. Might as well have been sleeping rough for all the roof there was. One night I had to go out looking for some food," she nodded to the bomb, "Same night that thing fell," she swallowed hard, "I told Jamie not to follow me, I told him that it was too dangerous, but he didn't like to be left on his own," she chuckled bitterly, "And you know what happens in the middle of London when there's an air raid on,"

The Doctor nodded before looking up into the sky before grinning, "Amazing," he said, and she raised her eyebrows at him, clearly not impressed, "1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it, nothing," he grinned, "Until one tiny damp island says no," I smiled leaning against the side of the bridge, "No, not here. A mouse in front of a lion, drawing a line in the sand," he chuckled, "You're amazing, the lot of you. I don't know what you do to Hitler, but you scare the hell out of me," he nodded at her, "Go on then, do what you have to do. Save the world,"

Nancy looked at us before turning the other way and went up the stairs. We went the other way and I dug my phone out of my pocket, unlocking it, "So we're at Limehouse Green Station?" I told the Doctor who nodded, "I better call Rose, she probably thinks that we're still back at the TARDIS waiting for her," I pressed the speed dial button for my sister, holding it up to my ear and hearing it ring, "Come on," I sighed, before it finally clicked through, "Aren't I glad that you decided to pick up the phone, Rose, because otherwise you'd be rather stuck,"

"Sorry," her voice came through and I frowned at the background noise. It sounded like classical music or something along those lines. Where exactly had she been? "I got caught up with something, but I'll be along in a bit, you're by the TARDIS?"

"Actually we decided to go off on our own adventure," I replied with humour, "Sorry, but you appeared to have vanished, literally. We've found the thing that hit us in the TARDIS and are now just about to go and talk to a doctor about what's been happening around here. To cut a long story short, there's a child that isn't a child, and a bomb that isn't a bomb," I let out a long breath, "It's a very confusing story, so you need to head over to a hospital near Limehouse Green Station as soon as possible. Ditch the music while you're at it," I rolled my eyes at the Doctor and then frowned as I heard another voice in the background, "Rose, are you with someone?"

"Someone who's got an offer for us," she explained, which not surprisingly didn't explain anything to me, "And he was just about to scan for any alien lifeforms around here, but seeing as you've told us where you are, he doesn't need to do that," I frowned at my phone, before putting it back to my ear, "So we'll see you in a bit, yeah?"

"If you've decided to bring your new boyfriend then..." the disconnected tone rang in my ear and I stared at it, "She hung up on me!" I shoved the phone back in my pocket, stalking to catch up to the Doctor and wrapped my arms around myself, "So there are phones that aren't supposed to ring that do ring and there are phone which are meant to ring, but get disconnected," the Doctor looked up from sonicing the lock, "Rose knows where we are, knows what we'e doing and she's bringing her latest boyfriend, who by all accounts, doesn't actually sound like he's from 1941," he frowned at that, "She said something about scanning for alien lifeforms,"

The lock broke with a snap, and the Doctor pulled it open, "As long as she doesn't bring him along with us like the last one," he merely answered, and I mock saluted, walking through into the hospital, "I learnt my lesson with the last one," we both looked up at the looming hospital, "Friendly, isn't it?"

I snorted, "If this is friendly, then I would hate to see what dark, scary and gloomy would be," I retorted, "I've never liked the haunted houses at the fairground, do you think this counts as one?" he gave me a look and I pasted a smile on my face, "But it doesn't matter what it looks like because we're going to have a look inside no matter what," we both started for the front door, "But let it be noted, that this wasn't my idea to go look around the creepy hospital in the middle of the night," I thought about it, "In the middle of a German air raid," I threw up my hand, opening the large wooden in, "What am I talking about, the whole situation is designed to be trouble. Only way of making it any fun is by deliberately causing more trouble than there already is,"

"Now you're talking my language," he told me, and I twirled on the spot, looking around, "Have I ever said that I really don't like hospitals even in the day?" I chuckled at that, "What? Never heard of a Doctor not liking hospitals before? Not a great fan of needles either to be honest with you,"

"Are you a medical Doctor?" I asked him, realising that I had never asked him that before. There was more than one type of Doctor in the world, "Or are you a Doctor of dangerous exploits and daring deeds?" I thought about that, "Actually that would be a good name for you. I've got to write that down," I pulled out my diary, and the pen, writing it down. I clicked the pen several times before catching the Doctor amused look, "Yes, I carry it around with me. You never know if there is something very important that you will need to know and I would have written it down in here," he looked amused, "It's called being prepared, like my shoes,"

"The Doctor of Dangerous Exploits and Daring Deeds?" he repeated back at me, and I shrugged, "Makes me sound like a cartoon character," I snapped my diary shut, placing it back in my pocket, "I am a medical Doctor, and some others as well. You think I have this name just for dancing?"

"I don't know," I replied, walking after him, "I've never seen you dance," he grabbed my hand and we walked into a darkened ward. I stared at what lay in each of the beds. Rows of people wearing gas masks were all sleeping in each and every bed. It was creepier than that little boy that had been calling for his Mummy. Although, now I thought about it, he had been wearing a gas mask as well. This was getting weirder by the second, "Shall we check another ward?" I hissed to the Doctor, hoping that I wouldn't wake anyone else up, "Preferably one that has lights," he nodded silently and we crept from the room, going into another which was identical to the last one except the people had different clothing, "This is..." I struggled to find the right word, "Worrisome,"

"You'll find them in everywhere," I jumped about a mile when a voice sounded behind me, and I turned around to see an old man in a long white coat. He was clearly the Doctor that Nancy had been telling us about, "In every ward, in every bed. Hundreds of them," he looked at us suspiciously, "Who are you two?"

"I'm..." the Doctor looked around, "You didn't take the gas masks off," he said to the man, "Nancy sent us here. Are you the Doctor that she told us about? The one that would warn us from going to see the bomb just outside of here?"

"I'm Doctor Constantine," the man answered him, "And they're not wearing the gas marks," he studied us, "If Nancy sent you to us then you must have been very intent on seeing the bomb outside. What do you know about it?" the Doctor shrugged, sending the message that he had no idea about it, "Well...I only know what the bomb has done. Not what it is," he stared at us, "And you still haven't told me who you are,"

"I'm Mary-Anne, this is Doctor John Smith," I told him, gesturing to the Doctor. Well it was better than coming up with a completely random name that I had to think on the spot for, "We're just passing by really," I looked around the ward, "These people though, were they all caught in the bomb's blast?"

"Actually none of them were," he said and the Doctor and I shared a look at each other. Doctor Constantine coughed suddenly, bending over with pain, retching almost. I moved forward to help, but he waved me off, irritably, sitting down in a chair, "Don't worry about me, I'm ill, but just haven't managed to find the time to take time off," he looked at the Doctor, "Have you examined any of them?" the Doctor shook his head, "Examine any one of them, but don't touch the flesh," my friend took out his sonic screwdriver, crossing over to one of the beds, buzzing the screwdriver at them, "What are your conclusions?"

"Massive head trauma," the Doctor recited back to him, "Mostly to the left side, partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly on the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns," he moved to another one, scanning it. He seemed to freeze, "This isn't possible," he ran to another one, "This is not possible," he stared at Doctor Constantine, and I waved my hands, wanting him to tell me what was going on, "They've got the same injuries," I thought I hadn't heard him, and told him as much, "No really, they've got exactly the same injuries, right down to the scar on the back of the hand," he moved towards the old Doctor, "How did this happen? How did it start?"

"When that bomb fell, it only had one victim," Constantine explained to us, "Dead, at first. His injuries were...truly dreadful," he settled back to tell his story, "But by the following morning, every doctor and nurse that had treated him, who touched him, had those exact injuries. By the morning after that, every patient on the same floor, the exact same injuries," I swallowed heavily, "Within a week, the whole hospital was just like this. Physical injuries as plague,"

"That can't be a coincidence," I told him, before looking at the Doctor, "That child that was calling for its Mummy at the front door of that house had a scar on the back of his hand," I looked around the inanimate beds, "And he was wearing a gas mask," I looked at the Doctor, "But how can he be walking around when all of these people are dead?"

The man looked rather interested at that, "What would you say then was the cause of death," he asked me.

"I'm not a Doctor," I answered him, "But the Doctor said head trauma?" Constantine shook his head, "The collapsed chest cavity?" still he shook his head, "I don't know, the gas masks might have suffocated them, there might be a damaged heart or something. It was a bomb after all," Doctor Constantine was still shaking his head and I sighed, "The scar on the back of his hand, it's a long shot but might have attracted some weird infection that's killed hundreds of people," I folded my arms, "Fine, what was the cause of death,"

"The wasn't one," he informed me, and I hesitated, looking around, "They're not dead," he whacked his walking stick against a metal bin, the loud sound ringing out into the room. Immediately the gas mask people bolted upright, swaying slightly at they stared aimlessly in front of them. I leapt back immediately, "Oh don't worry," Constantine assured us, "They're quite harmless, they just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just...don't die,"

And here I had thought we were going to go to Rome.

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**So we are almost to the halfway point of the gas mask zombie people. And I think we're three quarters of the way through all together as well. My, we are being fast, aren't we.**

**Once again, thank you for all your reviews. Every single one of them and all absolutely brilliant. Your praise doesn't just make me want to write more, it makes me want to really write well.**

**And of course, thank you to all those that read this, and put the little tick in the 'Follow Story' box just below.**


	45. The Empty Child: Part 5

**Hi, sorry I didn't update yesterday, but my internet was down all day. There wasn't much I could do about it really. But here it is, the final chapter for The Empty Child.**

**PaleMoonAngel061- I agree, the way that Doctor Constantine changes is very creepy**

**The Order of the Crystal Rose- Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like it so far, and than you for your compliments for the way I write. It's always really good to hear.**

**sailormajinmoon- I think you're definitely right about the skirt.**

**Shaybo27- Oh I hope that they'll decide to do another series of Merlin. It is really good and I'd miss it a lot. I hope I won't disappoint for the Bad Wolf storyline then.**

**The GirlWhoImagined- I like that name too. Unfortunately I can't claim inspiration to it. My cousin was round and told me I should add it in.**

**Anime-GuardianAngel- 50 percent chance of Alice wanting to harm Jack. I would say yes to that.**

**DragonRose4- Thank you for pointing that out and telling me. It's hard for me to see what I need to improve about my work, so thank you for pointing that out to me, and I'll definitely do what you say. Also the nickname Alice from Mary-Anne, is in the book Alice in Wonderland, Alice gets called Mary-Anne several times by the White Rabbit, which is where the analogy comes from, so I've just inverted it.**

**LifeShutterSpeed- I think you probably know how much your reviews and messages are inspiration to me so I'll just say it again. Your reviews give me inspiration. :)**

**grapejuice101- Jack is definitely here :)**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

* * *

The Empty Child: Part 5

This was seriously creeping me out. The people were just...sitting there, not doing anything, just watching us silently. I shuddered lightly, moving so I was right behind the Doctor, and trying not to look directly at any of the silent people. I thought that I was probably safer to be right next to him than to be anywhere else in the room. It was creepy though. And I had thought that far too many times today that it was getting rather old. The Doctor on the other had was staring right at the zombies, "They've just be left here?" he demanded of Doctor Constantine, who, if I was being honest, was looking worse and worse as time went on, "Nobody is doing anything?"

"I try and make them comfortable," the man bristled slightly with the accusation, as if he was being questioned about his integrity, "It's rather hard when you're the only one left in the hospital to do anything," I stared at him, noticing that he was looking at the back of his hand, "What else is there to do? They don't need anything," he sat back, clutching his walking stick, "Before this war I was a father and a grandfather, now I am neither," I placed my hands behind my back, looking down. I wouldn't know how to react if Rose or Mum had died in a war, "But I am still a Doctor,"

"I know the feeling," I turned around to look at the Doctor, who didn't look at me. I rubbed my arms, self consciously, sometimes I forgot that the Doctor was an alien. He was nine hundred years old, I would have been more surprised if he hadn't had a family back on Gallifrey, I froze at that, realising that he must have lost everyone back in the Time War. Mother...Father...maybe his brothers and sisters. I never thought to ask about his family. I should rectify that, if he told me, "So what's the plan that the government has decided to do to stop the spread of the gas mask people?"

"I suspect that the plan is to blow up the hospital," Doctor Constantine shrugged, "They'll that that it'll halt the spread of the disease, but it's far too late for that," he coughed violently, his hand flying to his neck, and he struggled to breath, "There have been isolated cases..." he retched violently, "Isolated cases all over London," he breathed in raggedly and the Doctor and I moved forward in order to help him, "Stay back, stay back!" he ordered us, and I dropped my hands to my sides, "Listen to me!" his voice was urgent, "Top floor...Room Eight Hundred and Two. That's where they took the first victim...the one from the crash site!" he choked again, "And you have got to find Nancy. The victim was her brother...it was Jamie," his hand flew to his throat again, "There's something else, she knows more than she's saying, she wouldn't tell me, but she might..." he stammered on the M, and then stared at us, "Mummy?" I back away at that, "Are you my Mummy?"

"Doctor," I moved back towards the door, "That's what that little boy was saying when he was trying to get into the house. What he kept on saying," I turned to look at him, "All these people are like that?" I turned to looked at Doctor Constantine before jumping back with a faint scream as something started to protrude from his mouth. After a second I realised that it was the end of a gas mask, appearing to force it's way out. His mouth suddenly morphed into a gas mask, and his eyes swelled up, appearing glass like and metallic, as the black stitching spread like a fungus over his face. In a few short moments, Doctor Constantine's face had completely been replaced by a gas mask, "That was disgusting,"

The man's head rolled to the side, looking like he was sleeping. The Doctor moved forward, buzzing his screwdriver at the man, "It is..." he straightened up, "He now has exactly the same injuries as the rest of these people," he gestured around the room, "The same I bet that child has," he turned to look at me, "I don't suppose you have any pairs of gloves or anything to cover your hands?" I shook my hands, "Thought not, that really would have been too much to ask for. We mustn't touch any of them, we can't risk catching whatever they have,"

"Maybe I should start carrying around a rucksack filled with things that could potentially be very useful to us," I told him, "But unfortunately it's not going to be much use to us here," I stared at Doctor Constantine, "How could one little boy do all of this, Doctor?" he didn't answer me, "He is a little boy, isn't he?" still he didn't answer me, and I nodded,

"Right..." I let out a deep breath, "All right, so what can we do now? We've got a hundred apparently dead sleeping gas mark zombies lying in hospital beds, our only source of medical information has been turned into one of them right in front of our eyes, and the one person that might be able to tell us everything has gone to feed starving children?" I frowned, "And Rose still isn't here,"

"Hello?!" a voice called down the corridor behind us. Well I appeared to be corrected. Although that voice didn't exactly sound like Rose. I yanked open the door, walking down the corridor, the Doctor following me. Rose was walking along towards with a man that appeared to be wearing a long nineties forties army coat. Right, she had brought along her boyfriend that she had picked up earlier, "Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting anything," I stared at the man. He was...very handsome, I had to hand it to him. Ridiculously handsome, "Captain Jack Harkness," I shook his hand, sharing a look with the Doctor, "Been hearing all about you on the way over," he surveyed me, looking at me up and down, "Nice skirt,"

Now that did push me a little over the edge, "I dressed for Ancient Rome," I snapped at him, feeling flustered at his gaze, before turning to Rose, "I thought you would have ditched your boyfriend, even if he is rather...flash," she folded her arms, shooting a look at me, "Anyway, we have more problems than him," I waved a hand in the man's direction, "The Doctor will explain,"

She pointed at Harkness, "He knows..." she told the Doctor, "I had to tell him," now I really was confused, and there was a lot of very confusing things that were happening right at this moment, "About us being Time Agents, and he has an offer for us concerning what crashed into the TARDIS when we were in the Time Vortex," I surveyed the man next to me. He was the reason that bomb crashed into the centre of London and had caused all of these problems. Great. How did Rose find these people?

"And it's a real pleasure to meet you," he shook the Doctor's hand, "Doctor Spock," I choked slightly myself and the Doctor shot me a concerned look. I waved dismissively at him, I had only been laughing at what Rose had said. Jack Harkness turned to me, "And you must be Mary-Anne," Now I did glare at Rose, who merely smiled innocently at me. I turned back to the Captain who had wandered off with a, "So! What's going on here?"

Both the Doctor and I turned to look at Rose before she disappeared into the rooms after him, "What was I supposed to say?" she demanded of the Doctor, "You don't have a name. What was I supposed to tell him. Don't you ever get tired of being called the Doctor? Doctor Who!" she brushed her t-shirt as she looked at me, "And I couldn't tell him that your name was Alice, could I? I mean I already told him that you were my sister," she looked past him, "I mean he is rather nice looking,"

"Where do you find them?" the Doctor asked her, and she rolled her eyes, "And you know. Nine hundred years of being called the Doctor, you know I think I'm coping," he folded his arms, "And where have you been? We're in the middle of the London Blitz, now is not a time for a stroll,"

She moved past us, "Who strolls?" she asked, "I went by barrage balloon, it's the only way to see an air raid," I actually couldn't believe that sentence came out of her mouth, "Anyway, never mind about that. Listen, what's a Chula warship," the Doctor stared at her, "Have you ever heard of one of those before?"

She walked into the ward, and I looked at the Doctor, "Sounds like you do know what a Chula warship is," I told him, "Sounds like you know that it sounds like very bad news," he merely sighed, walking past me into the ward, "Starting to see what you mean about that simple life you want," I followed him into the ward where the Captain was sitting in a chair. I looked at him, "So what type of a Captain are you, especially if you can scan for alien lifeforms?" I looked at what he was wearing, "What kind of a person who can scan for alien lifeforms wears that coat?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," he passed me his identification, "133 Squadron, Royal Air Force," he settled back in his chair, "American volunteer," I stared at the identification, turning it over in my hands, before throwing it back to him, "And so says the girl wearing that skirt in the middle of a cold winter's night in the middle of 1941, during a German air raid on good old London town," I saw the Doctor's head shoot up at this, a disgruntled look on his face.

I folded my arms, "You want to know what I think?" I asked him, and he leaned forward, "I think you're a liar, all the way down to your name. Mainly due to the use of the psychic paper," I gestured to the Doctor who was scanning another of the gas mask zombies, "He uses it all the time," I shrugged, "Plus, you handed me a piece of paper that said that you've dated sisters before, and that you've always had excellent feedback," the Doctor looked up sharply at that, looking even more displeased with that remark than the previous one, "Seeing as none of my sister's past boyfriends have been particularly model material, I think I'll pass on the offer, thanks," I walked over to the Doctor, "That bomb did this and he crashed it here?"

"Yes," he murmured to me, before looking at the Captain, "Have you scanned any of them?" the other man shook his head, "Do it and tell me what you think," the man stood up, opening what looked to be a very large wristwatch, and hovered over one of them, "Interesting, don't you think?" he asked the man, "Try another one, actually try more than another one so you can see what exactly is happening here,"

The Captain moved past one, checking them, "This isn't possible?" he said to us, and I sat down in the now vacant chair, folding my arms, watching him silently, "How did this happen?" he moved to another one, "They all have the exact same injuries," now he was just repeating what the Doctor and I had said not half an hour again, "What happened to all of them?"

"First," the Doctor said to him, "What kind of a Chula warship landed here just outside of this hospital," Captain Jack Harkness just waved a hand in dismissal when he heard that, and the Doctor ground his teeth "This all started at the crash site," he pointed to the people, "This has absolutely everything to do with what is happening here, so tell me. What kind of a warship did you crash land here?!"

"An ambulance!" the Captain shouted back, and I blinked, well I hadn't exactly been expressing that as an answer. How could an ambulance have done all this? It looked more like what a bacteria could do, spreading from person to person. What was happening looked like what an ambulance could cure, not what it could create, "But that has nothing to what this is," he stared around a room, "The ambulance is what hit you in the time vortex, right?" he looked at us, bringing up a projection on his wrist strap, the tube like object that we had been chasing, "I threw it at you, saw your time travel machine, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. And I threw you the bait,"

"See I told you that it wasn't my fault!" I pointed at Rose, who rolled her eyes, "Hold on," I turned to look at the man, "You said bait," I looked at Rose, "And you said warship," she placed a hand on her hip, looking away from him, "So what, you stole this warship, crashed it, and then what? Wait until we give you an offer for it?" realisation flooded through me, and I tilted my head at Rose, "Bloody hell, you really know how to pick them, don't you? I thought Adam was bad, but you've picked up some kind of an intergalactic con man," I folded my arms, "The fact that he looks nice only makes me want to punch him even more," I eyed the Captain, "What was your plan? A bomb to fall on it before we saw whatever it was, but after we paid?"

"You're not Time Agents, are you?" the man said and I grinned sarcastically at him, and he grimaced, "I should have know, you're just another couple of freelancers," Now that hurt, I thought we were more of semi professionals that often got into trouble for every three out of five places...maybe four out of five places, "I should have known, the way that you've tried to blend in with the local colour. Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain!" I looked at what the Doctor was wearing, I didn't think it was that military, "The only normal one seems to be Little Miss Legs and even she resembles a poster girl," I didn't know whether to be offended or amused by his comment. I had dressed for Rome, and how exactly did I look like a poster girl? "Anyway, what's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship,"

"What is happening here, Doctor?" Rose asked him lowly. I realised that she had no idea what was actually going on, having been probably wined and dined by the idiot of a Captain while we had been figuring out what on Earth had been going on here. I just wanted to either punch him in the face or kick him right where it really hurt. Maybe even both.

"Human DNA is being rewritten," the Doctor explained glaring at the Captain who was still scanning the bodies, "By an idiot," he paced around the room, "It's some kind of a virus, I don't know, it's converting human beings into these things. But I don't know what the point is. What could possibly be the point of doing all of this?" the people bolted upright suddenly, "Don't let them touch you!" he ordered, pulling Rose away from the beds as the creatures climbed out of the beds, "You're looking at what happens if you do,"

"Mummy?" I stared at the creatures as they advanced towards us, "Where is my Mummy?" I moved to stand next to the Doctor, as they walked towards us, "Mummy? Mummy?" you know it wouldn't have been so bad but the way that they were saying it as one really, really creeped me out. They shouldn't be doing this, "Mummy, Mummy..."

"Shouldn't we be trying to get to the door?" I hissed at the Doctor, looking towards it and seeing that it was blocked by more people coming towards us, all shouting for their mummies. If a psychiatrist was here at the moment then they'd be having a field day with all of this, "Plan B then? I proposed, as we were boxed into a corner, "Tell me you have a Plan B,"

He didn't answer and I closed my eyes. We were completely and utterly trapped. That was never a good place in which to be.

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**So the end of The Empty Child but obviously we're only half way through the story.**

**See you next time...unless my internet goes again.**


	46. The Doctor Dances: Part 1

**So here we go, the new chapter, and the new episode The Doctor Dances. I like this episode, probably more so than the Empty Child, probably because our gang is all together, with the addition of Jack. Always a bonus when Barrowman is involved.**

**grapejuice101- Hooray for Jack! Is this update quick enough :P**

**TheGirlWhoImagined- If we make it to Season 6...hmmm :D Now I'm wondering how I could do that. Lots of ideas now.**

**sailormajinmoon- Well you'll find out very soon.**

**LifeShutterSpeed- I thought it would be a very Jack thing to say with the pychic paper. Glad you liked it.**

**M- I'm sure that someone somewhere has slapped Jack. Probably a boyfriend/girlfriend of someone he was flirting with.**

**Shaybo27- I felt the same at the end of the episode when it was aired. So glad that you enjoyed the chapter.**

**The Order of the Crystal Rose- Well not kill him exactly.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

The Doctor Dances: Part 1

"Go to your room," I stared at the Doctor as he said that. What did he just say? "Go to your room," All of the gas mask people stared at us, halting in their progress towards us, "I mean it," he said to them. Was he insane? "I'm very, very angry with you, I'm very, very cross. Time out!" he pointed as if he was telling a very small child to go upstairs and think about things before they wished to star a tantrum, "Go to your room!" the people standing in front of us tilted their heads as if completely mollified and upset at the Doctor's words, before turning around and returning to their beds, now completely still. The Doctor grinned at us, "I'm really glad that worked," he admitted to us, "Those would have been terrible last words," I hit him lightly on the arm and he backed away, "Getting a hint of disapproval,"

"Oh, I hate you," I grinned at him, and he smiled back, "However I do have to thank you for saving us, I didn't fancy having to sport a gas mask for the rest of my life," I looked at the beds, "Especially if I had to call for my mother every hour of the day. I think I can last without doing that," I bent over one, listening carefully, "How are they still alive, I can't hear any breathing from them at all. And Doctor Constantine," I looked at the old Doctor who had returned to his chair and still wearing that same gas mask as ever other person in this hospital had on, "Doctor Constantine, he said that they had no heart beat, so how are they still alive?" I looked up at him, "And I'm still wondering about why they wear those gas masks,"

"They're not properly alive," the Doctor explained, "It's like the television is on but there aren't any programs showing on the screen," I nodded at that comparison, "But the child seems to be the template for everything that is happening here," he glared at the Captain, "And there is more going on here than we know about, not that it makes it any easier to find out about," he scanned another gas mask zombie, "And these gas masks are made of flesh and bone, not rubber, like it's literally grown from the face. I don't think that there's anything behind the eye glass. The gas mask is the face, and you don't say that every day," once again he glared at the Captain, "How exactly was your brilliant con meant to work?"

Captain Jack Harkness settled back in his chair, seemingly happy enough, and not at all bothered about what was happening all around him. Maybe he didn't care, maybe he didn't want to think about it, but his attitude was really annoying me, "Oh, it was simple enough," he explained, "Find some harmless piece of space junk, let the nearest Time Agent track it to Earth, convince him that it's valuable, name a price. When he's paid fifty percent up front, whoops," he grinned at us, "A German bomb falls on it, destroys it forever. He never gets to see what he's paid for. Never knows that he's been had," I folded my arms, annoyed at his use of words, "I buy him a drink with his own money and we talk about dumb luck. The perfect, self-cleaning con," Rose, the Doctor and I all looked at him disgusted, "Hey, the London Blitz is great for self cleaners, but Pompeii's nice if you want to make a holiday of it," he started laughing, "Got to set your alarm clock for Volcano Day though," he affected a look of contriteness, "Getting a hint of disapproval," he mocked slightly.

"Look around you," I retorted to him, and he did so, before shrugging, "This is what your piece of junk did. It's taken ordinary people and it's changed them into monsters. I don't know how yet, or why it did so, but I assure you that you are going to wish that you had chosen Pompeii as your chosen destination if we end up as zombies, crying for our mothers, because I am going to be the one to push your head through the wall," I looked at the Doctor, "Can we please get the hell out of here. I don't want to be surrounded by almost dead people that might come alive at any moment,"

"It was a burnt out medical transporter," the Captain Harkness informed me coldly, and I raised an eyebrow at him, clearly not believing what he was saying, "It was empty," the Doctor moved towards the exit of the room, not looking back at the man in the chair, "I even programmed the flight computer not to land on anything living. I harmed no one..." we all looked back at him, "I don't know what's happening here, but believe me, I had nothing whatsoever to so with it," a siren rang out outside, a whine from the speakers, "The all-clear, should be all right to go outside now,"

"I wish," the Doctor remarked sarcastically, "Rose, Mary-Anne, we're going upstairs," he turned back to look at the Captain, "Do you know what you've done, Captain?" he asked the man, "You've forgotten to set your alarm clock. It's Volcano Day," he opened the door and disappeared through it, Rose and me following him. I turned to look into the window, flinching sharply back when I saw that man there again, just looking at me, his face was still blurry, but his clothes, they seemed to be getting clearer to me. Like seeing him in the rain. He was wearing...brown I think...or was it dark blue? And he was still just staring at me, like I could help him or something.

"Alice?" Rose shook me a little, and I jumped slightly, turning to her, "Are you all right?" I hesitated, opening my mouth to tell her before closing it again. She would just think that I was mad or just suffering from a hallucination, which I probably was. But still, I didn't particularly want her to think that I was going insane. So instead I just nodded sharply, continuing to walk down the hallway.

"Very interesting people you tend to pick up, Rose," the Doctor remarked to my sister, looking back at us as we walked down the corridor, "All the men that I've seen you with tend to run along the same lines. They're complete idiots," I looked behind me, seeing that the Captain had followed us, "First you have one that doesn't even know his own name, then you have one that tries to change the whole of human history for his own ends and then finally you've got one that's caused something to rewrite the whole of human DNA. You're setting very good goals for yourself,"

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, "It's not my fault that Adam decided to make his whole head open up, and I only met him..." she jerked her thumb behind her, "Because I was stuck flying underneath a barrage balloon," she would have to explain that to me when all this was over. How could someone physically fly off with a barrage balloon? "I slipped and he caught me with his giant spaceship which is tethered up to Big Ben of all places," she sniffed, "And Mickey is not an idiot,"

"According to whom?" I teased her and she didn't look very impressed at me, "Hey I'm on your side, mainly," I thought about it, "Although your boyfriends have been rubbish so far...Jimmy Stone for instance," she glared at me for that, "Ignore me for as long as you think is necessary," I slipped my hand into the Doctor's and he pulled me up a flight of stairs, breaking out into a run, "Why are we running?" I asked him, "For once, there isn't anything to run away from?"

"Fun," he replied, stopping outside a steel door. I frowned at its number, "Door Eight Hundred and Two, where the first victim was taken. Nancy's brother," he looked back down, "What do you think about Captain Jack Harkness?" I raised my eyebrows at him, wondering what he was talking about, "He was commenting about your skirt,"

"So were you," I said, before wrinkling my nose, "I don't know, he could be likeable if he wasn't so...arrogant," now he looked surprised, "Oh come on, you can't have not noticed what he looks like. The man is handsome and he knows it," now he did look a bit grumpy, "Just because he probably flirts towards everything that has legs doesn't mean that I do, Doctor," I explained, before nudging him, "Besides, you know what I think. Captain Jack Flash hasn't exactly been the ideal member of the Royal Air Force and you know that I prefer people who are from the North," he grinned, and I smiled back at him, "I do have a question though, why haven't you opened this door already? Because I can assure you that it will not open on its own,"

"Experiment for Captain Harkness," he answered, "He's a con man that spends his time when not waiting for us, working as an American volunteer for the RAF, helping gun down German bombers. His dancing moves aside, don't you think it's odd that he chooses to help out the British in his spare time?" I shrugged, "And he was very insistent that he hadn't hurt anyone with his bit of space junk. Maybe the Captain is having a crisis of conscience?" he shrugged when I tilted my head, "That and I want to see his wares,"

"Crisis of conscience, huh?" I repeated back at him, before thinking about it, "Yeah, possibly," I looked down the flight of stairs, "But I think you're probably going to have to convince him of that more than the rest of us," the topic of our conversation skidded at the bottom of the stairs, Rose shortly behind him, "You want to see his wares?" I inquired of the Doctor who nodded, and I turned to the Captain, "Do you have a blaster?" the man nodded as he walked up the stairs towards us, clearly puzzled by the random question, "When your ambulance fell to Earth about a month ago, there was a victim, and he was brought to this room," I tapped the number on the door, "The Doctor wants to find out what happened here. So get it open,"

I moved aside as he turned towards the door, "What's wrong with your sonic screwdriver?" Rose muttered to the Doctor as Jack pulled out a blaster from his pocket aiming it at the lock and the light that beamed onto it shimmered as the lock completely dissolved, leaving only a square hole left. That was impressive, I did have to admit.

"Nothing," the Doctor muttered to Rose, before walking forward to take the blaster from the Captain, "A sonic blaster from the weapons' factories of Villengard, fifty first century," I raised my eyes in surprise. Seemed like the RAF American volunteer hadn't been quite upfront about where and when he was from. But then, I reasoned, neither had we exactly, "They're all gone now," the Doctor informed us, with a grin, "Main reactor went critical and vaporised the whole lot," he grinned at the Captain, putting his hand out as if to give the blaster back, "I went there once, there's a banana grove there now. I like bananas," he smiled at me, "Bananas are good?"

The Doctor disappeared inside the room, Rose following behind and I looked at the hole in the lock, "Nice blast pattern, Captain," I told him, "A squareness gun from the fifty first century. Guess you're not a local boy either,"

"It's digital," he explained, "And..." his wrist-burbled, "A cell phone, a jacket made of synthetic materials that won't be around for another two decades and anyone wearing a skirt that short clearly can't be from around here either, Miss Mary-Anne," I merely shrugged lightly, not bothered about his comments on my clothing choice, "Call me Jack, and yes, you guessed it, I'm not from around here," he looked at me, "My offer still stands you know,"

I snorted with laughter, "And my answer is still the same," I informed him, "You've already got my sister interested in you, do you really have to ask me as well?" his answering grin told me everything that I needed, "Typical man, you think that you can charm one sister and then the other with the same tactics," I smirked at him, "Sorry, you're going to have to try a little harder than that if you want to try and sweep me off my feet. It doesn't take a barrage balloon to do that to me," I pointed a finger at him, "And if you call me Mary-Anne again then you will regret it. It's Alice,"

"Sure thing, Mary," he answered.

I walked into the room, "Men," I muttered and by his grin, I was sure that he had heard me. I was just about to retort to him about that when I saw the room that we had just stepped into. It was a complete mess, with glass strewn around the floor. I walked into the main room, seeing a bed shoved back roughly. On the walls there was scribbles that showed that a child had been in here, paper that had been pinned to the walls all with the picture of a child's drawing of a woman, "Blimey,"

"Something got out of here," Jack noted calmly, clearly not seeing the pictures of the walls, "Something powerful, and angry," he frowned, seeing a rocking horse on the floor, "A child, well..." he sighed, "I suppose that explains Mummy,"

"How could a child do this?" Rose asked, picking up a teddy bear from the floor, "Doctor?" we turned to look at the Time Lord, who was by what looked like very old fashioned recording equipment behind the smashed glass.

He was frowning before switching it on, "Do you know where you are?" Doctor Constantine's voice, before he had been turned into a gas mask zombie, came out of the speakers, "Are you aware of what is around you? Can you...see? What do you need, what do you want?"

"I want my mummy!" I stepped back when I heard that same voice that had practically been following us ever since we had landed in the London Blitz, "Are you my Mummy? I want my Mummy?" I swallowed heavily when I knelt down by the walls, looking at the drawings that had been pasted onto the wall. Always Mummy, "Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" this child's voice had been following us since we had landed, only speaking the same sentences over and over again. Where was its Mummy, and I couldn't help but think that this was going to be a rather tough one to figure out.

"I've heard that voice before," Rose said to the Doctor who nodded, "Always 'are you my mummy?' like he doesn't know," I turned to look at her, seeing that she was staring at the wall like they were going to eat her, "Why doesn't he know?"

That was a very good question.

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**Well it's a bit shorter than the other chapters but I quite like this chapter either way. The next chapter should be up tomorrow, but my internet is still playing up.**

**See you soon! Over and out.**


	47. The Doctor Dances: Part 2

**So, I have 200 reviews. Whoo! I mean I have no idea how it happened, but thank you to every single person that has decided to put a little review for this story. Can't thank you enough. Honestly, my life...complete.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

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The Doctor Dances: Part 2

The Doctor was pacing rapidly around the floor, seemingly infuriated at something, "Can't you sense it?" he asked the three of us. Naturally all of us didn't understand what he was talking about, "Coming out of the walls, can't you feel it?" the tape was still going on in the background, the child still calling for its Mummy and I really wished that I could turn it off, but I had the feeling that the Doctor would just turn it on as soon as I switched it off. He turned to us, confusion written over his face, "Funny little human brains," he laughed slightly, "How do you get around in those things?" Rose opened her mouth, "Rose I'm thinking,"

"When the Doctor's stressed he likes to take it out on speeches that are less intelligent than him," I informed Jack who was looking at the Doctor as if the older man was completely mad. He was, but that was in a good way, not in the completely insane way that the fifty first century con man was most likely thinking of, "Cuts himself shaving, does half an hour on species that he's more clever than. Burns a hand on our ship's console and tells us about the many idiotic things that aliens have done in order to get rid of him and how he's defeated them, repeatedly. Just take any insult with a pinch of salt,"

"Mary-Anne," the Doctor said and I raised my hands in defeat, knowing that there was no point in interrupting him, "Not about that," he dismissed, "But don't you remember, there are children, living rough on the streets, living around the bomb sites, the waste grounds. They come out to eat during the air raids, they come to find food from houses that are empty," I nodded, not understanding what he was getting at, "What if they were there when this thing landed, whatever it was, landed?" I stared at him, "We know that it was Nancy's brother, but what if he was affected, somehow. Maybe even altered,"

"Turned into something that can only cry for its mother," I finished for him, and he shrugged, "But he..." I nodded to Jack, "Says that the bomb outside is only a burnt out medical ship. That it's harmless to anyone and everyone," we both looked rather sceptical at that, "If it was harmless, what could do something like this? To everyone in this hospital, because it's not just the child, is it? It's every single thing in this hospital. It's infected every single on of them. What could do that? Is it alien or not?" he started pacing again, "Doctor?"

He sighed, frustrated, "It's frightened," he told me, "That's why the child is calling for its mother, it's terribly afraid, but it's also very, very powerful. You saw it when it could phone the TARDIS even though the phone isn't connected to anything. It's not even real," I bit my lower lip, "Oh, it's terribly powerful," he barked out a laugh, "It has the power of a god and I sent it to its room," his face froze in horrible realisation and suddenly I could hear another sound in the room, not the child's voice, that was still playing, but another, it was a continuous swishing noise, like it was on a loop.

"D-Doctor?" Rose stuttered out, looking at the man in front of her that seemed to freeze into stone at something. He was clearly thinking things over, and clearly not liking the result he had come to. The swishing was louder now that I had noticed it, and I wondered what it was, "Doctor, what's that noise?" she inquired, fear showing in her eyes.

"End of the tape," the Doctor answered her, and my heart leapt to my throat, realising what that meant, "Ran out about thirty seconds ago," I didn't want to look past the Doctor at what I knew was right behind him, "I sent it to its room," he explained and I looked at Rose and Jack, all of us arriving to the same conclusion that had struck the Doctor not seconds ago, "Ahh,"

He turned around and I stared at the sight of the tiny child that was standing behind the broken glass, "Well, ten out of ten for child psychology, Doctor Spock," Jack told the Doctor, who didn't look away from the child, "On my signal," he dropped his voice, and I saw his hand go down towards his pocket, "We make for the door. Three...two...one," he moved to the other side of the Doctor, aiming his blaster over his shoulder. Except what he was holding wasn't the blaster that I saw him using earlier, "What?" Jack stared at the banana that he was holding.

The Doctor grinned, taking the real blaster out of his pocket, turning to our left and blasting a large hole in the wall, "Move it now!" I quickly scrambled through the hole, helping Rose jump down into the corridor, "Now go!" the Doctor told Jack, "And don't drop the banana, it's a good source of potassium," I rolled my eyes and grinned as the two men came to join us in the corridor, seeing the child come into view through the wall. Jack snatched the blaster off the Doctor, aiming it at the wall and somehow replaced the hole one again with the wall that had been in there. Fifty first century seemed to all have the cool stuff. The Doctor smiled at us, "The banana's from the groves at Villengard, thought it was appropriate,"

"Digital rewind," Jack explained, before holding up the banana, "You really did that?" he asked the Doctor who merely grinned back at the con man, "There's really a banana grove at the heart of Villengard, and you seriously did that?" the Doctor shrugged, clearly not caring, and Jack looked rather impressed with him, "You're a handy man to keep around, Doctor Spock,"

"It's just the Doctor," the man said, and I couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on Jack's face, "Just the Doctor, and I like bananas. Bananas are good," he tossed the fruit to me and I raised an eyebrow, "You said you were hungry earlier,"

"I don't particularly fancy having to eat a banana that's been in your pockets for God knows how long," I stated bluntly, "We've never been to Villengard with you and we've been with you a couple of months so how long has this banana been hanging around in your mouldy pockets for?" the Doctor looked a little offended at the banana, "Besides, Rose likes bananas," I tossed the banana to her, and she caught it, "There you go, Rose. Here's a banana," she looked like she was about to reply when suddenly the wall cracked as if something had punched it wildly, "Doctor...!" I recoiled backwards as the wall started to break.

"This way!" the Doctor grabbed my hand and we ran down the corridor, "Come on you two!" he shouted back to Jack and Rose who were behind us, "Keep up," we skidded to a halt when more people in those gas masks emerged out of the wards on either side of the corridor, "Back!" we reversed our footsteps, pushing the other two in front of us as we past where we had just been. I almost rammed straight into Rose's back when she stopped suddenly and I saw even more people coming the other way, "It's keeping us here till it can get at us!" the Doctor said as we were herded back in front of the wall which had almost been broken completely through, "It's everyone here, that child is every living thing in this hospital,"

"Ok," Jack nodded, turning from side to side, brandishing his blaster, "This can function as a sonic blaster, a sonic cannon and a triple enfolded sonic disrupter," he pointed the said weapon in front of him, "Doctor, what do you have?" the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver, grimacing at it. I suppressed a laugh at his reaction, he usually was so proud of the sonic screwdriver, however that pride seemed to fail in the face of another and probably better sonic objet, "Doctor?" Jack looked at him, "What do you have? A cannon, disrupter...what?!" he shouted at the Doctor.

"Screwdriver!" the Doctor shouted back, and Jack stared at him as if he couldn't believe what exactly he was wearing. I snorted with laughter at the both of them. They were acting like such children it was hilarious.

Rose and I rolled our eyes almost simultaneously, "Fascinating chat, boys," Rose remarked, before grabbing Jack's arm and aiming it downwards, "Going down!" I saw her press the button and felt the floor beneath us disappear. I fell down, landing awkwardly on my back a floor below. I grimaced, struggling upwards, "Everyone all right?" she called out to us, and all I heard from the Doctor and Jack were grumbles, "Oh the gratitude," she muttered.

"Who has a sonic screwdriver?" Jack demanded of the Doctor, "Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks, hmm nice but it could be a little more sonic?" the Doctor looked a little irritated at the derision that the sonic screwdriver was getting from the other man. Rose was busy rummaging around the room for a light, and I collapsed into a chair, hearing my back click, "Why would anyone go to the trouble of making a screwdriver sonic in the first place? Who does that?" they were like two children arguing over which toy was better. The one that lit up or the one that played music. It really didn't matter.

However the Doctor had other ideas than to leave the topic at rest, "I have a sonic screwdriver," he told Jack, "Have you never been bored?" from Jack's expression, the answer probably was along the idea that there was always something better than make a sonic screwdriver if you were bored, "Never had a long night? Never had a lot of cabinets to put up?" Somehow I doubted that the Doctor had ever invented the sonic screwdriver when he had a lot of cabinets to put up. Blowing them up...that was more likely to what he would do to them.

The lights suddenly switched on, Rose having found the light switch, and immediately the people in the beds bolting upright as soon as we could see, "Door!" Jack raced over to the door that was tucked away in the side. It couldn't have been anything but a closet or a storage cupboard, but it would get us away from the zombies behind us. Jack aimed his blaster at the lock, the gun only whining in protest, "Damn," he hit it trying to make it work, and failing rather heavy handedly. The Doctor grinned smugly at him, going to the lock and whirring it at the door, "It's the special features, they really drain the batteries," he protested at my unimpressed look at the gun.

"Batteries?" I asked him, as we all moved into the cupboard. It was bigger than I thought it would be, but it was still rather small. And no other exits were around. The window was also barred. I turned back to Jack, "Your blaster runs out of batteries?" I inquired, "That is incredibly lame, I've never seen the sonic screwdriver run out of batteries before," Jack scowled at me, and the Doctor grinned smugly from where he was, "Why don't you get better batteries?"

"I was going to send off for a new blaster, but somebody's got to blow up the factory," he glared up at the Doctor who had leapt onto a bench and was buzzing the bars, "What are you doing? We've got to get out of here, the wall didn't stop that child, those doors won't stop it either! That's a sheer drop outside, it's barred and we're seven storeys up. We can't get out that way, there's no other door, so we're stuck here waiting for the door to fail,"

"Well it's got to find us first!" the Doctor retorted, "Come on, come on, we'e not done yet," he looked back at us, "And we've got plenty of assets here. Don't give up now!"

"Well I've got a banana and in a pinch you could put up some shelves," Jack replied, sitting in an empty wheelchair, rolling it back and forth, "We're locked in a barred room, seven storeys up which we can't get out of. Every single person in this hospital is looking for us, with a child that calls continuously for its mother, and no other exits," he folded his arms, "Well, the assets conversation went by in a flash, didn't it?"

The Doctor stopped what he was doing, looking down at Rose, "Where did you find this one then?" he asked her, and she looked away, blushing slightly, "That interesting then? At least Mary-Anne never seems to wander off,"

"She was hanging from a barrage balloon," Jack informed us, "I had an invisible spaceship," I rolled my eyes when he shot a flirtatious look at Rose who blushed even further red than she already was, "She fell into my arms and I never stood a chance," from the way that Rose was blushing, I could assume that at least what he was saying was the truth, although I didn't know how much was him exaggerating, "And here we are,"

The Doctor also rolled his eyes, "All right," he started pacing the room, and Rose slipped past me to stand by Jack. I leant against the wall, watching him walk around the room, "One, we've got to get out of here. Two- we can't get out of here," he looked over at me,

"Have I missed anything else out?" he asked me.

"I'll say," I was staring at where Rose and Jack had previously been sitting, "Rose and Jack have just disappeared," the Doctor looked to where my gaze was travelling, "Blimey...it's like Titanic all over again, isn't it?"

He just sighed in irritation at them missing.

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**So here we are then. Sets up the next chapter rather nicely. But that's just what I think.**

**See you soon.**


	48. The Doctor Dances: Part 3

**Hi, sorry this chapter wasn't up yesterday, but here it is. Finally. Thank you all that reviewed for the last chapter, once again.**

**And for all those that didn't notice the Titanic thing, neither did I until I was writing this chapter, stopped half way through, realising it. Wonder whether the writers did that consciously or not.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

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The Doctor Dances: Part 3

"So Jack and Rose have both decided to..." I waved a hand, "Vanished into thin air," I leaned against the wall, looking at the Doctor who was sitting on the bench, looking at where Rose and Jack had disappeared, looking as if he was willing them back into existence, "And we're both stuck here...without any help or any way out, with gas mask creatures looking for us all around this hospital," he looked up at me, "You can't deny that we're kind of stuck here," I let out a very long sigh, "Why does it have to be the extremely interesting and fascinating ones who do that?"

"I'm making a very great effort not to be insulted," he told me calmly, and I sat down next to him, "He's a con man who was trying to cheat us before he decided to see what was happening here. How that makes him fascinating is truly beyond me," I shot him an incredulous look, "Oh that look really helped, Mary-Anne, what are you looking at me like that for?"

I folded my arms, "Doctor, you disappear off at every opportunity you get," I practically spelt out for him, "And I don't think anyone could accuse you of being dull or boring, so I think that you can allow yourself to be in said group of fascinating and interesting people," he seemed to brighten up at that, "Although to be fair it doesn't help us out with the problem of being trapped here until someone comes up with a plan to get us out of here, because I'm fairly certain that we won't be able to do anything until we get out of here,"

"Don't worry, I'm working on a plan," the Doctor tried to reassure me and I raised a sceptical eyebrow, "Really...I'm working on plan to get us all out of here and stop whatever is infecting everything in this hospital and around London. We just need to get out of here first, which is...proving harder than I first thought," I chuckled at his confession, "There isn't a manual for escaping out of difficult places, Mary-Anne, until you would like to write one for me,"

"Even if I did, you wouldn't use it," I teased him back, "I'd have to keep updating it, because you would always find a way of escaping in a new way," I patted him on that arm, "But by all means, keep working on that escape plan of yours because I think that it'll definitely come in handy in the next few minutes...or hours,"

"Right bundle of laughs you are at the moment," he noted before holding out his arm. I smiled reluctantly at him, shuffling over to rest my head on his shoulder, "We're in London 1941, at the height of the London Blitz. Whole streets are destroyed in a few hours each night, the bombardment never ever stopping for nearly seven months. Almost fifty thousand people dead across the whole country because of it, but the people of Britain never lose hope or faith that they can't get through it. Incredible time to be alive in,"

"Rather shorter life expectancy, I'd wager," I answered back, "All those people dead though, we might have got through it, Doctor, but we never forget it. Never ever..." I looked up at the barred window, "My gran's out there somewhere, just a little girl, and probably hiding in some bomb shelter with her family hoping that the noise above her would stop. If I didn't know that she survives this, I'd be really worried about her. She didn't get evacuated out," I explained to him, "My great-grandmother didn't want her to leave and so she never went," my mouth twitched slightly with humour, "It's odd because you read about World War Two and you learn about it, and you think you know it, but actually being here...and these people who have all changed," I looked at him, "Sometimes do you ever feel like just giving up?"

"No because I know that there has to always be a way that we can survive this," he replied, "That we can help save a planet or a person, to never ever give in when people say that it's impossible," he grasped my hand, "Because we might not know what the hell this thing is or what it wants, but that doesn't mean that we can't stand up to it and tell it what to do," I nodded slowly, "To go out while doing what you love doing move of all," he shrugged, "It's better than sitting at home, eating chips for the rest of your life and watching television. There's nothing that I'd rather be doing than discovering a new planet or visiting a time long gone. Which is why when I look at the London Blitz, I can see how resilient and strong the people of this city are," I smiled properly at him, my spirits restored. We could get out of this...we just needed the right factors to come into play.

There was a sudden fizzle of static coming from the back of the store cupboard, "Miss Mary?" my head shot up at the sound of part of my name, "Hello...Miss Mary, Doctor? Can you hear me?" for some reason, Jack's voice was coming out of the radio, and the Doctor and I scrambled over to it, turning it up. I picked up the end of the plug, and the Doctor looked interested in the fact that it was completely disconnected from the electricity supply, "We're back on my ship," the Captain informed us, "I used the emergency teleport, sorry I couldn't take both of you. It's security keyed to my molecular structure, so I could only teleport myself and a plus one out. Would have been you, Miss Mary, if you had accepted my offer,"

"Get over yourself, Captain," I said to him, twirling the disconnected end of the plug around my fingertips, still getting annoyed by his use of my name. It was Alice, or Mary-Anne, not Mary... "I think that Rose is perfectly capable of being with you on your spaceship flying somewhere in the middle of London," I looked at the plug, "This radio has been disconnected," I added, "How can you speak to us if there's no power to the radio?"

"My ship has On Com," Jack explained. That made absolutely no sense to me. I didn't know fifty first century slang, "It means that I can call anything with a speaker grill. All I have to do is narrow down your location and find anything that has anything compatible and send the signal right through it," I felt fairly impressed by that, "Neat, huh?"

"It's certainly a coincidence," the Doctor admitted, "The child can On Com as well. It can use anything with a speaker grill, even the TARDIS phone, which isn't even a phone," I smiled at him for that. I knew it still rankled with him that his precious TARDIS had been messed around by a child and he didn't know how it could do it. If anyone were to call the TARDIS then it would be the Doctor before anyone else. Men and their motors, even if it was a time travelling spaceship, "It can call us from anywhere it wants. Doesn't even have to know where we are,"

"And I can hear you," I recoiled at the innocent sounding voice that came bleeding through the radio. Did the Doctor really have to say that? He was practically inviting the child to come and find us, "Coming to find you, coming to find you, Mummy,"

"You can probably hear that then, Doctor," Jack's voice came through the speaker once again, "Don't worry, I can try and scramble the signal to give you more time so it doesn't find you quite as soon. It's the least I can do," I grimaced at that, didn't want the child to find us sooner or later, "Hey Rose," I heard the faint sounds of my sister in the background of wherever Jack was, "Remember this one," music came pouring through the radio and the Doctor rolled his eyes, going back to the bars, "Glen Miller, Miss Mary," Jack added.

I shifted slightly, "I knew that," I bluffed, and he laughed, "Shut up, Captain, and don't call me Miss Mary, it's Alice. Now just figure some way of getting us before we turn into those things that are looking for us," I turned back to look at the Doctor, who was buzzing the wall. I sat in the wheelchair, rolling it back and forth, watching him carefully, "I really don't want to be rude, Doctor, but might I ask what the hell are you doing to the wall, because like Jack said, it is about a seven story drop down there, and I don't fancy being a strawberry jam pancake any time soon,"

"I'm trying to set up a resonation pattern in the concrete," he told me, and I nodded slowly, pretending I knew what he was saying, "It'll try to loosen the bars, we can pull them off and then get out through the window. Completely safe and harmless," I didn't say anything, "I am not betting my life that Captain Jack comes back, Mary-Anne. I prefer to find out my own way of getting out of here,"

"The old fashioned approach," I replied, twirling around the wheelchair. I'd always liked to have one, not because I needed it, but because it was rather fun spinning around like this, "I wouldn't bet my life that he was coming back either, but I would bet my life that Rose would make him come back to rescue us. She's very good at doing that," he looked over his shoulder, "And besides she trusts him because he saved her life," he scoffed slightly, "Believe me, bloke wise that's up there with flossing for her," I spun in a full circle, "And besides he is like you, only with dating, flirting and dancing. The debonair version of you," I raised a hand, "Not that I'm saying that you're not debonair, you're very debonair...apart from that coat," I caught his look, "What?"

"You just assume..." he trailed off, focussing again on the concrete, before turning around to look at me, "You just assume that I don't...dance," a slow smile spread over my face as I looked at him intrigued, "Nine hundred years and I have been around a bit, so I think that you can assume that at some point in my life, I've...danced," he sounded almost offended that I hadn't figured that out before. To be fair he didn't exactly look like the sort of person that would...dance, saving the world was more his forte than anything else. He looked at me, "Problem?"

"You're telling me that you do dance? You?" I blurted out, before covering my smile with my hand, "I guess I did just assume that you didn't...dance. Clearly those shoes just aren't just for running, you can dance in them as well," I rolled back and forth on the wheelchair, thinking about it, "To be fair, I thought that the whole universe would implode if you danced, be a very interesting way to end the universe," I grinned, "What sort of dancing are we talking about?"

"Well I've got the moves, but I wouldn't want to boast," he continued to sonic the concrete, not looking at me. I rolled back and forth once more, before grinning and rolling all the way back to the radio to turn up the Glen Miller. I saw him stiffen slightly, before looking over his shoulder at me. I held my hand up to him, "Mary-Anne, I'm trying to resonate concrete..."

"Captain Jack's coming back, and he'll get us out of here, because otherwise Rose just might break his arm," I said sweetly, "So come on, you said you've got the moves, show me your moves," I tilted my head to the side, "The world doesn't end because the Doctor dances, you know," he sighed, putting his sonic back in his pocket, hopping down off the bench and taking my hands, "I've seen you blow up a building with less trepidation than this," I teased him, "Dancing's really not as dangerous as defying death, nine hundred years should have told you that,"

"I don't know, on some planets dancing is forbidden," he said to me, and I looked at him pointedly, "Maybe it's not in the league of blowing up buildings but it still can be very dangerous," he studied my hands carefully, "That's odd, your sister was hanging from a barrage balloon in the middle of an air raid and she didn't have a single mark on her hands,"

"This is dancing?" I asked rhetorically, "I might have to return that information leaflet about dancing because this is not what was described there," he looked at me pointedly, "Why don't you ask her the next time you see her, because I'm sure that she'll be able to answer all sorts of fascinating questions about her hands when we next see her, but right now I don't feel my feet moving," he sighed, before putting a hand on my waist and another clasping my hands, "It's really not that difficult, Doctor," I put a hand on his shoulder, "If it really matters to you, the state of Rose's hands I mean, then it has to be something to do with Captain Jack,"

"We're calling him a Captain now?" he informed me, and I sighed impatiently. We started moving slowly, although I had to say that it was a long distance to anything that I would call dancing, "He's not really a captain, Mary-Anne, and if he ever was then he's been defrocked,"

"Really?" I questioned, grinning, "It's a real shame that I missed that, I would have taken a picture and then he might have not started calling me Miss Mary," I smiled at him, "Doctor, you know that I'm not remotely interested in what Captain Jack does. Rose is completely welcome to him," I moved forward, closer to him, "Are you sure you're not experiencing captain envy?" I murmured to him.

"Very sure," he murmured back, we had stopped moving now, just standing very close to each other, "Mary-Anne...I don't experience any type of envy," I raised an eyebrow, "Most of the time,"

"Why are we still talking about Captain Jack and his frock?" I inquired softly, and he leaned closer to me. I could feel his breath on my cheek, "I mean, I know it's a shame that we missed it, but it's not the end of the world that his frock was stolen, but he's not right here, right now, is he?"

"I might beg to differ," I closed my eyes, annoyed before the Doctor and I both stepped back to look at Jack sitting in a large seat with wires all over the place, "And besides, I quit," I rolled my eyes, and looked around seeing that we had moved to somewhere completely different, "Nobody steals my frock," I shot him a grin, "You two are ever so sweet, most people notice when they're being teleported. Both of you completely lost in your own little world, I'm almost sad that I had to interrupt," I looked around the spaceship which actually looked like a spaceship, weird alien lights beeped in different places, all very futuristic. Rose waved from a corner, "Sorry about the delay, I had to take the nav-com off line to override the security to override the teleport security,"

"You spent ten minutes overriding the security protocols on your own ship?" the Doctor asked incredulously, "Perhaps you should remember who's ship this is," Jack merely grinned at the Doctor, "I wonder how you managed to get it off them,"

"Oh it was easily, "Jack answered and I shot a look at Rose, who looked pointedly away, "She was gorgeous, and like I told her...back in five minutes," he gestured to the ship, "This is a Chula warship, just like that medical transporter except this one is actually very dangerous. So don't go around trying to do anything inside. Might set anything off,"

The Doctor snapped his fingers, and instantly a cloud of golden dots surrounded his hand, "They're what fixed up my hands," Rose moved over to us and I stared at the golden cloud. They were pretty, and very beautiful, "I slipped on the steel cable when flying over London, cut them a little. Jack fixed them up with...err...nanogenes,"

"Subatomic robots," the Doctor explained to me and I slowly moved my hand through the cloud. It felt like little ball bearings bumping against my skin, not harmful, just peculiar, "There's millions of them in here, probably in every square foot," he waved his fingers a little, "You see, I burned my hand on the console when we landed. All better now, the nanogenes activate when the bulkhead's sealed, check you out for damage and then fix any physical flaws they find," he waved his hand and the golden cloud whizzed off. He caught my look, "Bullying subatomic lifeforms is easy. I leant it as a child,"

"That's a step down from saying 'I had a lonely childhood'," I informed him before patting him lightly on the back, and looking at Jack, "Before we went to the hospital we were going to see the crash site where your medical ambulance landed. Can you take us there as soon as possible,"

"Just as soon as I get the nav-com back online," he answered me, and I sighed, "Just make yourselves comfortable, find somewhere to sit," I moved to sit down onto the bed, next to Rose, "You two could carry on that conversation you were having," he motioned between the Doctor and I, "Whatever you were talking about,"

"We were..." the Doctor looked at me, "Talking about dancing,"

Jack raised an eyebrow, "Didn't look like you were talking," he said.

"Didn't sound like dancing either," Rose added and I looked between them, "Need to talk to someone, Alice?" I folded my arms, sitting back where I was sitting. I was perfectly fine here.

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**Ahh, well we're nearly over with this episode. Well, half way through at any rate. **

**So long people, and see you with the next chapter.**


	49. The Doctor Dances: Part 4

**Thank you for all your reviews for the last chapter, it's always a gamble to see whether people like what they read, and so on.**

**But here it is, and only two days to go until Episode 1 of Series 7 of Doctor Who. I'm seriously excited.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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The Doctor Dances: Part 4

Five minutes later and the Captain still hadn't managed to figure out his controls. I mean what sort of a Captain doesn't have control over his own vehicle? However in the five minutes, due to Rose's insistent questions towards him we had found out a lot more about the man in the forties uniform, "So," Rose summed up when we had heard his whole story, "You used to be a Time Agent and now you're conning them," which would explain all of his annoyance when he found out that we weren't Time Agents. You would think, however, that the Time Agency would know about the Doctor though, as they both travelled in time and space. The aliens that we had met seemed to all know what a Time Lord was. But Jack seemed not to. Strange.

"If it makes you feel any better, then it's not for the money," Jack told us, switching some levers on his dashboard, "One day I woke up one simple morning, when I was still working for the Time Agency, and found that they had stolen two years of my memories," I straightened up at that. They had stolen his memories? "They've got them on file right now somewhere in their archives and I would like them back," he shook his head, "It's a very long story, but I wished that I knew what it was about," if someone had decided to steal my memories then I probably would turn criminal in order to get them back as well, "Two years of my life, no idea what I did," he nodded to the Doctor, "Your friend doesn't trust me, and you know what? For all I know, he's right not to," The computer suddenly beeped, "Ok," Jack turned around, "We're good to go. Crash site?"

The Doctor stood up looking out of the front of the spaceship, "Directly there," he told him, "Time to look at your piece of space junk," the spaceship jolted forward as Jack manned the controls. The Doctor walked over to me, "We don't have a lot of time, there's a bomb meant to land there in less than an hour and we have somehow got to stop that and the apparent infection that is spreading across the whole of London in the amount of time that we have," he looked down at me, "Think that we can do it?"

"We've had worse odds," I replied and he inclined his head, thinking about it, "Besides we're not alone and the child doesn't know where we are. It probably still thinks that we're still in that cupboard waiting for it to find us, rather than here, in this spaceship on our way to look at an outer space ambulance," I watched Jack carefully, "The people that he worked for, the Time Agency, they took his memories?" he nodded quietly. We were at the very back of the room talking in very low voices, "So the fifty first century has squareness guns, time travel and the ability to erase someone's memories," I summed up, "How come they don't know about you then? You think that they'd know about Time Lords if they're the Time Agency,"

"I'm not aware of everything that goes on in the history of the human race," he defended himself, "I knew about them but I'd rather be hidden from them then be right in view. I have no doubt that they have records about me, but I'm not exactly going to jump right in front of their spotlights as it were," I understood what he was saying to me. He was keeping away from the authorities as much as possible, "I don't want them to try and take away my memories. Humans are incredibly nosy when they want to be," I really couldn't argue with that, "There are lots of groups that have time travel in the future, but I tend not to run into them a whole lot,"

"Really?" I asked him, folding my arms and leaning back against the wall of the spacecraft, "Nine hundred years and you haven't ever run into another time travelling human?" he thought for a minute, and I laughed, "I don't know why I believe anything that comes out of your mouth, I can't tell what's truth and what you just make up," I poked him in the ribs, rather friendly, "I'm not complaining though, because I trust you," I pushed away from the wall, pointing a finger at him, "And you know that I'm still waiting for that drink you owe me," I flopped down next to Rose, while the Doctor went to lean over the Captain's shoulder. He was probably a terrible backseat driver. I looked at my sister, "So," I started, "Barrage balloon right?"

"Wearing this t-shirt," she finished for me, and I looked at the Union Jack that was spread across her chest, "Not such a good look a thousand feet over the Thames, however a very good way of seeing London at night," travelling by barrage balloon wasn't exactly what I would call good transport, and I told Rose as such, "It wasn't for very long," she added, "I'd just slipped off and Jack somehow caught me with this beam, I don't know," she looked around a room, "It's very Star Trek this though. More so than the TARDIS,"

"Yeah, but the TARDIS is bigger on the inside," I retorted, "I would wager a lot that whatever this spaceship can do it's exactly the same size on the outside than it is on the inside," she shrugged, agreeing with me, "And besides the TARDIS is a phone box, and this is a spaceship floating in midair. And we had to wait until we could get back on here," I turned to her, "How are you with these gas mask people?"

"Oh fine," she said immediately, before rubbing her cheek, "Absolutely terrified," I nodded, agreeing with her, "I mean how can a little child like that have so much strength, and the Doctor doesn't even seem to know what it is? It could be anything at all and he doesn't know what to do at the moment. All we're doing now is going to a crash site that might or might not help us,"

"Trust him, he's the Doctor," I told her, "He might not know what he's doing or he might not know what's happening here. Perhaps he does know and hasn't told us yet but whatever happens I know that the safest place is to be right here, next to him. We're not dead just quite yet, are we?" she smiled at me slowly, "And I think that as he has nine hundred years on him then he has quite a very good chance of surviving this, therefore I think we should stay here. I mean what else are we going to do? Go back to the TARDIS and wait it out?"

"Perhaps you're right," she admitted and I raised an eyebrow in her direction, "You're not always right, Alice," she moved closer to me, and dropped her voice down to a whisper, "So what exactly were you and the Doctor talking about when you were alone in that store cupboard," I opened my mouth to answer her and then closed it, not really know what to say, "Oh come on, you can't seriously have been talking about dancing all that time?" I looked away from her, rubbing my hands together, "What kind of dancing?" she inquired, grinning.

I was just about to answer her when the spaceship suddenly jolted as we no doubt landed. Jack turned around in his chair, grinning at us, "Ladies and gentlemen if you would like to vacate the aircraft, we have arrived at our destination," he grabbed his coat, before walking through the door at the back, "Come on, you three," we all followed him out into the cold night air. Now I definitely wished that I hadn't worn this skirt here. We were by the train station again and Jack was walking towards the entrance, "Well here it is," he said when we all stopped, looking at the patrolling soldiers, "Hang on, they've got Algy on duty here, has to be important,"

"The words 'distract the guard' seem to be heading in my general direction," Rose said and I turned to look at her, "Not that you can't distract the guard," she immediately said, "Only I doubt that you'd be allowed to distract the guard. You're not distracting the guard if I can say anything about it," now Jack looked at her, "Don't worry, I can handle it,"

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Jack informed her and Rose placed her hands on her hips, "I've gotten to know Algy quite well while I've been in town, trust me, you're not his type," Rose sniffed at that, and he winked at her, "I'll distract him," he slipped out of where we were hiding, "Don't wait up," he called back to us before heading over to where the guards were.

Rose stared after him with a slightly crestfallen look on her face, "Relax," the Doctor told her, "He's a fifty first century guy, he's just a little more flexible when it comes to dancing," I let out a laugh before disguising it carefully as a cough when Rose turned to look at me, "By his time, you lot are spread across half the galaxy, and," he faked a sigh, "There's so many species, and so little time," Rose was still staring at him, "Did I say something wrong?" he inquired lightly, still grinning at her.

"So that's what we do," she asked him, "When we go out into space to see the universe? That's what we do when we finally get out there amongst the stars. That's our mission. We seek out new life and...and we..." words seem to fail her.

"Dance," I finished for her, watching Jack talking to who I supposed was Algy, "I said that he flirted with everything on legs, I knew that he flirted with everything on legs," I looked over at Rose, "Don't worry about it, I bet that he'll still flirt with you after he comes back from distracting the guards, and he'll flirt with me, and then he'll probably flirt with you, Doctor," I looked at the man next to me, "As you said, so many species, so little time. I don't think that just because you're a Time Lord, you'll be able to escape Jack's flirting," the guard that Jack was talking to suddenly dropped to his knees, "However that might do it,"

We ran quickly over to where Jack was staring at Algy, who was morphing into a gas mask creature like all the ones that we had seen in the hospital. "Stay back!" the Doctor ordered the other guards. Rose, who hadn't seen the transformation before, leapt back with a faint scream and I grasped her hand. It was particularly disgusting to watch, "The effect is becoming airborne," the Doctor told us, "The infection is accelerating, and there is nothing that is stopping us from becoming infected and turning into those things," the air raid siren suddenly went off, "Here comes the bombs again,"

I looked up into the sky again, "That's all we need," I said sarcastically, before looking at Jack, "You said that there was a bomb that was going to land here in a few minutes," I look out my watch, clicking it open and seeing it ticking, "So we've got what? About another ten minutes before we're all blown to pieces by the German Luftwaffe. Just how I wanted to go,"

The Doctor shook his head, "Never mind about the bomb," well say that when we were all dead, "If the containment is airborne now then there's only hours left," he caught all our looks at me, "Until forever, when the whole human race is turned into those creatures," he frowned, "And can anyone else hear singing?" I cocked my head, listening hard, there was the faint traces of singing coming from the shed which was locked up. Rock a-bye Baby, if I wasn't mistaken, "Get that tarpaulin off!" he called as he ran over to the shed.

"Well come on," Rose grabbed my hand, running over to it, "Hurry up, Jack!" she called over to the fifty first century man, who helped us unbuckle the ropes attached to the edges of the tough material, and together we all tugged it clear of the ambulance. I looked at the object that had smashed into the TARDIS. It was a very ugly shade of mauve, but essentially it looked completely harmless. How could it have caused all off this? It just looked like a container of sorts.

"You see," Jack turned to see the Doctor running back with Nancy behind him. She nodded to me, and she stood next to me, looking at the ambulance with slight horror. Well it was the thing that had killed her brother, "It's just an ambulance, there's nothing dangerous about it at all,"

I caught Nancy's stare at Jack, "It's hard to explain," I told the shorter girl, "It's from another world, from another time, and it crash landed right here in the centre of London," she looked up at me, and I swallowed, "Not human," I clarified, "Thereabouts," I looked at Rose, "This is Nancy," I said to her, "Nancy showed us where the bomb site was, and the hospital. I'm sorry," I turned back to Nancy, "The Doctor Constantine that you told us to talk to turned into one of those gas mask creatures while we were there. In front of us," she only nodded.

"They've been getting inside," the Doctor tapped the panel on the side of the ambulance, which was clearly hacked at by something, "The soldiers probably think that they've got Hitler's latest secret weapon. Trying to get inside to see what it is," he turned to Jack, who was beeping his wrist strap at it, "What are you doing?"

"Trying to get inside," Jack retorted, "As soon as you see that this thing is completely empty, then the sooner you know that I had nothing to do with it," the panel suddenly hissed and fizzled before flashing red and letting out a high pitched wail, "That didn't happen the last time,"

The Doctor rolled his eyes at the Captain, "That's because it didn't crash last time," he said as if he was talking to a small child, "There'll be emergency protocols, and you've just activated them," he looked around the site, "Captain, secure the gates," Jack looked like he was abut to argue with him, "Just do it, Captain," Jack ran off, and the Doctor looked at Nancy, "Nancy how did you get in here?" Nancy just gestured towards the fence, "Right," he threw the sonic screwdriver to me, "Show Rose and Mary-Anne where. Setting two thousand, four hundred and twenty eight D," he instructed me, "It reattaches barbed wire. Now go!"

Nancy ran over to where there were several lines of barbed wire cut, large enough for a man to squeeze through. I quickly flicked the switch on the sonic, holding it against the barbed wire as Rose held it steady, "Who are you two?" the forties girl asked us and Rose and I shared a look together, "Who are any of you?"

"You wouldn't believe us even if we told you," Rose replied to her, and Nancy looked sceptical at her, "Really you wouldn't...believe us. It's very complicated and..."

Nancy laughed, "You just told me that was an ambulance from another world," she said bluntly, "There's people all over with gas masks on their heads calling for their mummies and the skies full of Germans dropping bombs on me. Tell me..." I reattached another wire, "Do you think that there isn't anything left that I couldn't believe?"

I let out a long breath, looking at her, "We're time travellers," I responded to her question, the sentence sounding completely ludicrous in my mouth, "We're from the future," Nancy scoffed, "It's true, I told you. We've got a time travelling machine, we were tracking that thing," I pointed over to the ambulance, "Seriously,"

Nancy shook her head, looking up at the sky again, "It's not that, love," she admitted, "All right, you've got a time machine. I believe you. I'll believe anything," she rubbed her arms as I buzzed another piece of wire, "Although that does explain your skirt," I didn't rise to that, it had been mentioned far too many times today, "But what a future,"

"Nancy," Rose looked over to her, "Believe me, this isn't the end. I know how it looks, but it's not going to be the end of the world or anything," Nancy swallowed audibly, and I nodded to Rose as she grabbed both of Nancy's hands, "It isn't the end here. Believe me," She gestured to herself and me, "Both of us, we were born in this city. We were born London in about fifty years and we're from here. We're not German or anything, because they don't come here. They don't win the war. You've just got to sit it out, but it's not the end of the world,"

"We win?" Nancy asked, looking like she daren't hope to believe what she said was true.

Rose laughed, and I smiled having finished buzzing the wires together, "Don't tell anyone," my sister grinned at her, "But you win, and the only downsides is all those movies," Nancy smiled slowly, and I knew that eventually she would believe it and she would be all right.

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**So drop me a review to say how this chapter went. I like the next one and then of course it's Boom Town which is really getting close to the ending of Series One. What can I say? It's been a blast writing this story.**

**See you tomorrow!**


	50. The Doctor Dances: Part 5

**So here it is, the last chapter of The Doctor Dances, and I do like this chapter a lot, and certainly this part of the episode.**

**To grapejuice101, LifeShutterSpeed, Ryn of Magic, Shaybo27 and DragonRose4, thank you all for reviewing the last chapter and am so glad that you decided to review. Hope you like this one as much as the last one.**

**DragonRose4- I hope I get around to writing each episode as well. :)**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

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The Doctor Dances: Part 5

All three of us walked back to where Jack and the Doctor were hacking into the ambulance, Jack only just sliding it open, almost triumphantly, "Look," he gestured to it wildly, "You see there wasn't anything in it. It was empty when I found it and it is empty now," he folded his arms, looking at the Doctor, "You see, whatever is happening here has absolutely nothing to do with this ambulance. Something else is controlling and infecting all those humans out there. I had nothing to do with it," He sounded like he was more defending himself than proving anything.

"What exactly do you think would be in a Chula medical transporter, Captain?" the Doctor asked him, "Bandages, cough drops?" he looked at us three, "Mary-Anne, Rose, do you two want to take a guess?" my sister and I just shrugged, not knowing the answer, "You do know it," he held his palm up and a icy feeling flowed through my veins.

"Nanogenes!" Rose shouted out.

Oh my God, "Nanogenes," the Doctor agreed with her, and I turned to look at Jack who had instantly gone completely pale, "You see it wasn't empty, Captain. There was enough nanogenes in that ambulance to rebuild an entire species,"

"Oh god," Jack stuttered out, now completely ashen as he realised what exactly had happened, "Oh my God!"

"Getting it now are we?" the Doctor snapped, "When the ship crashes, the nanogenes escaped. Billions upon billions of them, all of them ready to fix all the cuts and bruises in the whole wide world, but what they find first is a dead child, probably killed earlier that night, and wearing a gas mask," he folded his arms, glaring at Jack, "And what's life? Life's easy, a quirk of matter, nature's way of keeping meat fresh. And it's nothing to a nanogene. But there is one problem, these nanogenes, they're not like the ones on your ship, this lot have never seen a human being before, they don't know what a human being is supposed to look like. All they've got is one tiny little body, and there's not a lot left. But they carry right on, they do what they're programmed to, they patch it up. Can't tell what's human or what's gas mask, but they do their best. Then off they fly, off they go, work to be done. 'Cos you see now they think they know what people should look like and it's time to fix all the rest. And they won't ever stop. They won't ever, ever stop. The entire human race is gonna be torn down and rebuilt in the form of one terrified child looking for its mother, and nothing in the world can stop it!"

Oh my God. I had to process that explanation very carefully in my mind to understand what had happened here. All the way back in 1941, this was what happened. It wasn't an infection or aliens coming to invade or anything like that. It was simply that a few nanogenes had gotten the wrong information and everyone was going to suffer for it. End of the human race because of a simply mistake. Well, Jack's mistake seeing as he crashed it here and let the nanogenes go off into the world. "I didn't know," said Jack and the Doctor merely turned away from him, not bothering to look behind.

There was a sharp bang and I turned towards the locked gates, but beyond it, people were pouring out of the hospital towards us, all wearing the gas masks. All that had been changed by the nanogenes, "Doctor, that ambulance siren," I looked at the man, "It's calling all of the people here, isn't it?" he nodded, "You said that this was a wartime ambulances, that there were emergency protocols, so why is it calling all the people here? They've already been changed, I mean they're ordinary people, they're not troops or anything,"

"That's exactly what they are," the Doctor explained, "Because like you said this is a battlefield ambulance, it's a fully equipped Chula ambulance, the nanogenes don't just fix you up, they make you ready for the front line, equip you, programme you. Which is why the child can do the Om Com. It's a fully equipped Chula warrior. All that weaponry technology in the hands of a hysterical four year old, looking for Mummy. And now there's an army of them,"

"And all heading here," Rose completed, shoving her hands in her pockets, "Well it's not ideal, but at least it's not a forty year old man," the gas mask people were all around now, waiting at the edge of the crash site, not moving just waiting there, "What are they doing?" she inquired of the Doctor, "Why aren't they attacking us, we're right here," I wasn't complaining to be honest with you.

"They're good little soldiers," the Doctor said, waving a hand at them, "Waiting for their commander. The child," he walked back to the ambulance, "We're safe until it gets here, and then we're a little stuck. Not that we're not now," he buzzed the ambulance, "And it's not long until that bomb falls here, almost any second," he looked at Jack, "Standing a little too close to the volcano are we, Captain?" he inquired of the man, "We'll all be blown to kingdom come soon enough, unless the child gets us first," he added.

"Jamie," Nancy interrupted him and he frowned at her, "Not the child, Jamie," she swallowed hard, almost in tears, "He's just a little boy," she told us, "Just a little boy who wants his Mummy, and it's all my fault," she wiped her eyes, "Everything's my fault,"

"There isn't a boy born who wouldn't tear the world apart to find his mother," he answered, "And this one can. And it's not your fault. How can it-" she looked down and suddenly the Doctor froze, looking at her, "Nancy, what age are you?" I shot him a 'really?' look, "It's important," he replied to me, "How old are you, Nancy?" he repeated, "Twenty, twenty one? Older than you look, right?" Nancy shook her head, refusing to answer.

"Doctor we've got seconds," Jack insisted, "And I can't teleport all of you out now that the nav-com is back online. It'll take too long to override the security controls. There's nothing I can do,"

"You can do everything," the Doctor replied to him, "It's Volcano Day, you've forgotten to set your alarm clock, do what you have to do," I stared at Jack who shoulders slumped, and he pressed what looked like an electronic car key. He disappeared in a haze of blue light, disappearing from the site. Great, so we were already down one person, and still with no way out. I turned to look back at the Doctor who was still intent on Nancy, "Five years ago, you would have been, what? Fifteen, sixteen? Old enough to give birth," he paused, "He wasn't your brother, was he?" I ran my fingers through my hair at that. Of all the things to be revealed now, "A teenage single mother in 1941, so you hid, you lied. You even lied to him," the gates banged open and the small child walked forward looking at us. Jamie, "He's just going to keep asking where his mummy is. He's never going to stop. But you have to tell him," I stared at the Doctor, I know we had solved the question of where the child's mother was, but what could this do? "Nancy, you have got to tell him, the future of the human race is in your hands. Trust me, and tell him,"

He turned her towards the child, who was still repeating the same question that we had heard on the TARDIS phone, on the radio, even in that toy monkey with the cymbals, "Yes," Nancy walked towards the child, who stopped and stared up at her, "Yes, I am your mummy," the child just looked at her, "I'm here," she knelt down, "I am your Mummy," she told him, and I had to swallow heavily in my throat. She was pleading to someone that couldn't answer her, "I will always be your Mummy," she wrapped her arms around him, "I'm so sorry," the nanogenes suddenly swarmed around the two of them, "I'm so, so sorry,"

I opened my mouth and the Doctor waved me quiet, "Shh," he told me and I stared at him, "Come on, please," he was watching the nanogenes fly all around the two figures. Weren't they going to change Nancy, so why was he so damn hopeful? "Come on, you clever little nanogenes, figure it out! The mother, she's the mother. There's got to be enough information there," he pointed suddenly at them, "You see? Recognising the same DNA!" because that was completely and totally obvious to all of us that was watching this happen.

"What does that mean?" I asked him, and suddenly Nancy fell back from Jamie, staring up at the Doctor, "Doctor, what happened?"

He rushed over to where the child was, "Come on, gimme a day like this. Gimme this one," he reached over to the child's gas mask, pulling it up and over the face. I stared as it fell off, revealing the face of an ordinary four year old boy underneath. The Doctor let out a yell of triumph, scooping the small boy up, "Welcome back!" he spun in a delighted circle, "Twenty year to pop music, you're going to love it!" he grinned at Nancy, "The nanogenes recognised superior information. The parent DNA. They didn't change you, because you changed them!" he saw that she didn't understand, "Mother knows best!"

He passed Jamie over to her, still giddy with happiness, "Hate to put your dampener on your happy mood, Doctor," I called over to him, "But there is still that bomb that's going to land here any second..." I looked up at the sky, seeing something falling to Earth, "Now..." then there was a blue light that encompassed the bomb as Jack's ship burst out of the clouds, "That might solve our problem," I said in a small voice, "Certainly a very small problem now," Rose just smirked at me, "Shut up, Rose,"

I looked at the bomb, and a figure appeared riding it, "Hey, Doctor!" Jack shouted down to us, "The bomb's already commenced detonation. I've put the bomb in stasis but it won't last for very long, I need to get rid of it somehow," the Doctor nodded at him, "Goodbye then," he nodded to Rose, "Rose, Miss Mary..." both of us looked at him, "Goodbye, glad to know you!" he disappeared with the bomb from the blue funnel of light before suddenly reappearing, "Oh, Miss Mary," I placed a hand on my hip, "Love the skirt,"

I opened my mouth to reply, but he disappeared before I could say anything. I turned to look at the Doctor, who had columns of nanogenes flying around his hands, "What are you doing?" I asked him, watching him wiggle his fingers, and walking out into a empty part of the crash site, "Doctor?"

"Software patch," he explained to me, "I'm going to email the upgrade," he turned to grin at me, "You wanted moves, Mary-Anne," I blinked startled at the statement that I had said to him at what seemed like hours ago, "I'll show you moves," he threw his hands forward, nanogenes bursting out of his hands towards the gas mask people by the gates, surrounding them, "Everyone lives, Mary-Anne, just this once! Everybody lives!" I smiled, running to him, and he twirled me around, hugging me tightly, laughing outright, "Everyone lives!" we ran over to the gas mask people, who had all changed back to human, "Doctor Constantine, who never left his patients," he said to a now fully restored Doctor, "Back on your feet, constant doctor. The world doesn't want to get by without you just yet, and I don't blame it one bit," he gestured around us, "These are your patients, all better,"

"So it would seem," Doctor Constantine told us and I grinned at him. This was one day where I could finally be happy over everything, that there was no people to mourn today, "They would also seem to be standing in the middle of a disused railway station. Is there any reason for that?" he peered at us.

"Cutbacks," the Doctor bluffed, and I let out a chuckle, "Listen whatever was wrong with them before, you'll probably find that they're cured. Just tell them what a great doctor you are, don't make a big thing of it. Ok?"

"And thank you," I added, letting the Doctor pull me back to where Nancy and Jamie were. I looked at the girl in front of me, "I suppose you've got him back then," she nodded, hugging Jamie again, "Good luck, you know, for the future, you've earned it, and you'll make sure all those children on the street are all right as well," she smiled, and I hugged her, "Thank you for saving us," I said and they wandered off over to where Doctor Constantine was, and I looked at the Doctor who was on the ambulance, pressing the buttons, "What are you doing?"

"I'm setting this to self destruct once everyone is clear," he explained, "History says that there was an explosion here, and who am I to argue with history?" Rose rolled her eyes, and he straightened up to look at the people standing around, "Right, you lot! Lots to do. Off you go, beat the Germans, save the world, and don't forget the Welfare State," they looked at him as if he was mad, "Oh, you save everyone and everybody thinks that you're insane. I'm working on that," he hopped down, taking my hand, "So back we go. Off to the TARDIS again,"

* * *

It was a very happy mood that we were all in when we reached the TARDIS, bursting into that giant room that was completely stuffed inside the impossible police box, "The nanogenes will clear up their mess and then switch themselves off," the Doctor was explaining to us as we walked up the gangway, "Because I told them to. Nancy and Jamie will go to Doctor Constantine for hep, ditto. All in all, all things considered...fantastic!" he grinned at us, so happy for once.

"Look at you," Rose laughed, leaning against the railings. I sat on the seat by the console, smiling at the sight of the Doctor twirling around the TARDIS as if it was the best day on Earth, "Beaming away, like you're Father Christmas,"

He looked at her, "Who says I'm not," he said to us, "Red bicycles when you were eleven and twelve," I stared suddenly at him. How the hell had he known that? I had loved that red bicycle. The Doctor laughed out our identical expressions of shock at him, "And everyone lives. Everybody lives. I need more days like this!" he set the TARDIS in flight, "Go on, ask me anything. I'm on fire!"

I dug out my diary, ready to write down the latest adventure in it, when Rose said, "What about Jack?" she asked quietly, and he suddenly fell silent, focussing on the TARDIS in front of him. I dropped my pen on the paper, waiting for him to answer the question, "Why did he say goodbye?"

The Doctor sighed, "Because the bomb had commenced detonation and there isn't way out of his spaceship," he confessed, "And the bomb won't stay in stasis for long," Rose swallowed, heavily and he turned back to his TARDIS not looking at either one of us, "I'm sorry,"

"Well then," I closed my diary, determined that it wasn't the end of the story just yet, and I looked up at the Doctor, "We are going to get him, aren't we?" he turned to me, and I leaned back into the chair, "That second chance you were telling me about in the hospital, that crisis of conscience remember? I think that Captain Jack has certainly redeemed himself from what he was," I tilted my head at him, knowing that he couldn't have possibly thought that we would leave Jack behind. I paused slightly, "Hold on, where exactly did you send the TARDIS?"

The Doctor beamed again, hitting a button, and Glen Miller came on once again, "What do you take me for?" he demanded of Rose, "Today is one where nobody died," Both my sister and I let out a huge breath, before glaring slightly at the Doctor, "Got you," he grasped my hand, pulling me up, "You said something about dancing earlier," he grasped my hands, "You'll have to teach me how to do it, mind you. I think I've forgotten," he looked over at Rose, "If you would open the doors," he slammed down a lever, "We have arrived,"

"Right," I looked through the doors to see Jack sitting at the driver's seat, "Oi!" I called and he turned to us, "Mr Despondent! Hurry up then!" I looked back at the Doctor, "Dancing then?" he nodded, taking my hands and the Captain suddenly entered the TARDIS, "Made it then, did you?" I said sarcastically.

"Close the door, will you?" the Doctor asked, "Your ship's just about to blow up, and there is going to be quite a breeze," Jack did as he was told, "Welcome to the TARDIS," I saw Jack mutter something about it being bigger on the inside, "Time and Relative Dimension In Space," he flicked a switch on the console, the music changing to something faster, "Mary-Anne..." I looked over to him, "I've just remembered something," he grinned at me, "I can dance!" he grabbed my hands, spinning me in a perfect circle, and bending me backwards. I grinned at him, the awkwardness of the store cupboard completely forgotten as he spun me around the TARDIS console, "How's that for dancing?" he asked me and I just laughed, seeing Jack and Rose dancing around on the other side of the console, "Not bad if I do say so myself,"

"Fantastic," I told him, as he spun me around again, "Absolutely fantastic," the song finally came to an end and the Doctor hugged me again. Today had ended in an absolutely fantastic way, and I dearly hoped that there would be many more days like this. I collapsed on the seat again, watching as Rose and Doctor danced , and I looked at the Captain, "So what's your biggest question?" I asked him.

"TARDIS?" he inquired.

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space," I spelt out for him, "The Doctor's a Time Lord," recognition showed on his face, "Rose and I are just from the twenty first century, we travel around in this tiny little thing, pretty much running into every type of trouble that there can be found. It's seriously scary at time, but it's seriously fabulous at the end of it as well. Best kind of life there," I held out my hand, "So welcome aboard, Captain Jack Harkness,"

"Why thank you Miss Mary..." he frowned, "Last name?"

"Tyler," I informed him, and he straightened slightly at that, "Mary-Anne Tyler, or just call me Alice, I prefer Alice," I looked at him, and he looked at me with some sort of shock or hesitation, "Everything all right?" I asked him and he nodded. I smiled, turning back to see the dance between Rose and the Doctor finish, and the Doctor held out his hand to me again, "Another?" I hopped off the seat, "Count me in, Doctor,"

* * *

Sometime later I was sitting on the console seat, watching the Doctor run around the TARDIS. Rose had found Jack a room on the TARDIS and she herself had fallen asleep back in her own room. Today had also been very, very tiring. Between an awful lot of dancing, we had also been treated to gas mask creatures, subatomic robots making a mistake and a Captain from the fifty first century. I was slightly amazed that I was still awake, and still scribbling in my diary. This story had finished, and I couldn't wait for the next one, "Today has been a good day, hasn't it?" I said to the Doctor softly, and he grinned over at me.

"Extremely good day," he added, walking around, and pulling up a grate, "One could even argue that today was a perfect day. Adventure, running, meeting new people, and saving everyone," he pulled out a clump of wires, "And everyone lives, just this once, everyone lives,"

"That matters a lot to you," I noted to him, and he fell quiet at my statement, "To save everyone," I rested my head on my hand, watching him carefully, "You know that it isn't your fault that anyone dies. It's everyone else that causes it. You save people, you always save people," he looked up at me from his position on the floor, "I do have to say thank you for all the times that you saved me, because you've done it a serious amount of times," I smiled sleepily at him, "So you're going to have to put up with me for quite a while in the future. I don't think that I could ever leave here now,"

"Especially as you seem to be falling asleep," he remarked and I waved a tired hand at him, "You should go to sleep, we're going to go to new places tomorrow," I grinned, lying down on the seat, watching him work, "Your back is going to be very stiff if you sleep on that,"

"Don't mind," I murmured, stifling a yawn, "I like watching you work," I could feel myself slipping off to sleep, and I shook my head, "I'm awake, I'm really awake," I blinked over to where he was sitting, "What are you doing to the TARDIS?"

"Fixing the helm regulator," he explained, "Don't want to be stuck in space for all eternity, do we?" I shook my head and feeling myself drift off, "You really should go to sleep, Mary-Anne," I closed my eyes involuntarily and the noise from the sonic screwdriver drifted away as I finally fell asleep in the console room.

Some time later I opened my eyes to see the interior of my room. How had I ended up here? I looked around the darkened room before seeing the Doctor dozing on the other side of the bed. I didn't know whether he was properly asleep or just resting his eyes, but I smiled lightly as I lay my head back against the pillow, shutting my eyes again, as I allowed sleep to steal over me, and drag me back into the darkness.

* * *

**So here it is, the last chapter of this episode. Hope you drop a line saying what you thought. **

**And so now onto Boom Town, which I do like.**

**So see you tomorrow, because I am going to put up the new chapter.**

**_Next Time:_  
**

**_"We're running out of fuel," he told me and I frowned. We had never needed fuel before now, why did we need it now? "Nothing harmful at all, we're going to go back to the best place on Earth for what is practically TARDIS radiation fuel," Jack, Rose and I all looked at him, "Cardiff," the anticlimax must have shown on all our three faces because the next thing that he said was, "What's wrong with Cardiff?" he demanded, "Best place on Earth for getting what we need, and there's going to be lots of radiation around. Especially with the Rift being there and all,"_**

**_..._**

**_"So Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me," he looked down at me, "It's safest place in the universe,"_**

**_"Oh do you have to say that?" I inquired._**

**_..._**

**_"But that's the woman," Rose said, taking the paper off him and opening it up, "That's the Slitheen in Downing Street," he scanned through the article and I looked at the Doctor who was watching the seaside with a grim look on his face, "What the hell is she doing in Cardiff, I thought that she got blown up with the rest of the Slitheen when Mickey sent that missile to them,"_**

**_..._**

**_I slumped immediately back on the seat, watching them walk away from the police box.  
_**

**_"Anything interesting on?" Jack asked, from behind me and I tapped the buttons to make the screen go blank immediately, "That interesting, huh?" he grinned at me before going back to the console where the extrapolator was beeping away, "You know that it's only dinner," he informed me, and I looked towards him with an innocent expression on my face, "They're only going out because she wants to try and convince him not to take her back to Raxacoricofallapatorius, other than that there isn't a reason that he's taking her to dinner. So don't worry,"_**

**_..._**

**_"Nothing lasts forever," he reminded me,  
_**

**_"But we can pretend it does," I remarked, "Even just for one tiny little second, we can think that everything lasts forever. Forever and a day," I looked at our clasped hands, thinking about what Jack had said to me, "I'd like to spend forever and a day here,"_**


	51. Boom Town: Part 1

**And here is the first part of Boom Town is here as promised by me yesterday. This episode is a nice quiet one really, even if there is an earthquake in the middle of the Cardiff. But then that's all part of the fun, isn't it?**

** I am mentally counting down the hours until the new Doctor Who episode. I'm excited, but who isn't? If you're reading this story then you probably are. Who knows.**

**Thank you to grapejuice101, Shaybo27, LifeShutterSpeed, sailormajinmoon, Ryn of Magic, TheGirlWhoImagined, and Cjabbott98 who all reviewed. Glad you like the chapter, hope you like this chapter just as much.. And shh...spoilers for what most of you mentioned.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine.**

* * *

Boom Town: Part 1

"So then, all of us having run out of alcohol, we ran down the corridor charging towards it..." in the few weeks that Jack, Rose, the Doctor and I had been together, we had been treated many of these stories by Jack at his time at the Time Agency. From the stories that he told, it did leave a lot to wonder at how he had ever got anything actually done there, but I enjoyed the stories, even if they didn't leave a lot to the imagination. But hey, we were all together and we all were having fun. And that was all that mattered in this point in time. That wasn't to say that we hadn't had any time for running, we had done loads of running, but that's another story to tell.

"Well I don't believe a word that he says," I said, sitting down, and Jack stuck his tongue out at me, "I mean where on Earth did you manage to get a woolly mammoth from? I mean, they're not exactly wandering around the place as they please," Jack merely folded his arms, clearly unhappy at the reception that his story had received from me. The Doctor just laughed, fixing up yet another part of the TARDIS. If I didn't know any better, I would have said that the TARDIS was practically falling down around our ears, by the amount that the Doctor actually fixed just in this room. and he didn't need as much sleep as the rest of us.

"Well I like it," Rose said, smiling at Jack. In the time that we had all been together, Jack had grown from a guest to a friend to an almost brother-like figure. Almost being that he flirted with all of us at every opportunity that he could get. Both of us teased each other enormously, pretending to be irritated with each other before going off and teasing each other some more. All four of us slotted into our roles so easily. "Mammoths, spaceships," She laughed, "I probably would have screamed like crazy," I snorted with laughter at her, and she elbowed me, "Shut up, Alice. What would you have done if you would have seen a giant mammoth?"

"She would have taken a picture of it, and it would have impaled her when she was looking at it," Jack retorted, and I gasped in mock outrage at him, "Don't lie, Miss Mary, you wouldn't have resisted taking a photo of a woolly mammoth. Just like you couldn't resist taking a photo of Califrax Major, or that anti gravity restaurant we all went to," Now it was me who stuck my tongue out at him, "If you had come across a great huge mammoth then you would have whipped out your camera at the first instant, even if it was trying to kill you,"

"I have no idea what you are talking about," I lied and both Rose and Jack laughed at me, "I don't take pictures of everything, I just like documenting everything that has happened," they didn't stop laughing, "If you don't shut up then I'm going to find the biggest pillow in this place and beat you with it until you stop laughing," that just served to make them laugh even harder, and I turned to the Doctor, "Do I really take pictures of everything?" I asked him and he shook his head. I smiled at Jack, "The Doctor agrees with me,"

"That's because he always agrees with you," Rose teased me, and my mouth dropped open at her. She was supposed to be on my side, "But how many photos have you taken since we started travelling with the Doctor," I looked away from her, deliberately not answering the question, "Alice,"

I tapped my fingers on the leather seat that I was sitting on, "Three hundred...or less," I answered reluctantly, "Not that I'm counting or anything," she grinned triumphantly at me for that, "Oh...shhh," I looked at the Doctor, "So mammoths and photos aside, where are we going to go next, Doctor?" I inquired of him and he grinned at me, "Still no Ancient Rome then, I'm guessing,"

"We're running out of fuel," he told me and I frowned. We had never needed fuel before now, why did we need it now? "Nothing harmful at all, we're going to go back to the best place on Earth for what is practically TARDIS radiation fuel," Jack, Rose and I all looked at him, "Cardiff," the anticlimax must have shown on all our three faces because the next thing that he said was, "What's wrong with Cardiff?" he demanded, "Best place on Earth for getting what we need, and there's going to be lots of radiation around. Especially with the Rift being there and all,"

"Maybe we're not so excited about going to Cardiff is because last time we nearly got turned into zombies that were being used by blue ghosts who wanted to take over the world," Rose said plainly, "Not in much of a hurry to have that done to us all over again, thank you," she looked at Jack, "We went to Cardiff a couple of months ago, Christmas 1869, with Charles Dickens. Got locked in a sluice waiting to die. We were in an undertakers, so it wasn't particularly pretty, but we managed to get out of there without much of a scratch, except there was a giant explosion and a friend of ours died. I thought we weren't particularly interested in going back,"

"So you're telling me that you were with Charles Dickens, at Christmas surrounded by ghosts?" Jack inquired and I chuckled at that. I suppose I hadn't really thought of it that way, "I'm sure that story will be remembered for a long while," he looked over to the Doctor, "But if there's a Rift in Cardiff, then that'll be why you need it as fuel," he looked over at me, grinning, "Rifts always bleed energy even when they're not open as such. So we better get started then, it'll take a while to fill up the engines," I got to my feet, hearing my back click, "Right then Miss Mary, you can help me with this wiring, while we get to Cardiff,"

"I've told you before Jack," I walked over to him and he passed me a load of black wires, "If you call me Miss Mary again..." he only smiled at me, passing a flashing blue light. I looked over at Rose, "The things that I have to put up with," she laughed at me. Truth be told, I had grown used to Jack calling me Miss Mary now that it didn't matter. So now I answered to three things, "So here we are then. Off we go, to Cardiff. Well at least we're actually trying to get to Cardiff and not Naples like last time. We might actually even get the right date this time," the Doctor slammed down a lever, and I nearly dropped the wires as the TARDIS span through the Vortex, "Onwards and upwards then,"

"Doctor, I don't suppose I could phone Mickey? Seeing as we are heading for Cardiff," Rose asked him over it the roar of the TARDIS, "Want to see whether he can bring my passport here. I'd like it if we ever need end up somewhere that demands to know if I can travel to that country. It's all very well for you and your psychic paper but what of someone asks me, and I don't have anything with me?"

"You don't need a passport," the Doctor told her, "I can take you anywhere and you won't get asked whether you're allowed to go here," she looked at him pointedly, and he sighed, "Fine, phone Rickey the Idiot up. We're going to arrive on..." he checked the screen, "3rd of October 2006," she nodded, walking down the corridor, and he turned to look at us, "Why does she want to get Rickey here?" I shrugged, "Just who we need,"

"Well he did save our lives," I reminded him and he grimaced, rattling around the console. Jack took a wire off me. I felt a little like an abused hatstand, "And he is or was Rose's boyfriend so she can phone him if she wants to," he looked at me incredulously, "Don't look at me, I'm not best friends with him. Found it hilarious when we saw him at six years old at the wedding," the TARDIS stilled suddenly having landed, "Oh good...Cardiff," Rose walked into the room, "Everything good with Mickey?" she nodded, "Very well then...Jack, do you really need me to stand around holding things, or can I do something a little more useful,"

* * *

Half an hour later there was a knock on the door. I had found a better job than holding Jack's pieces of wire, which mainly consisted of holding the Doctor's tools while he was busy fixing something on the wall of the console room. Rose was checking her phone every five minutes so it was left to Jack to answer the door to what was presumably Mickey outside. Now this would be interesting to hear. I peered over the edge to see Mickey outside the door, glaring at Jack, "What do you mean, who the hell am I?" I heard him say, "Who the hell are you?"

"Captain Jack Harkness," the ex-Time Agent said to him, "Whatever you're selling, we're not buying," I snickered at his words. He knew exactly who Mickey was, and was deliberately baiting him. Well, it was what I would do in his position, so I didn't exactly blame him for doing so. Mickey was such an easy target sometimes. Mickey barged into the TARDIS past Jack, who merely said, "So this must be Mickey,"

"Here comes trouble," the Doctor called down from where we were, "How have you been doing then, Rickey boy?" Mickey shot him a glare, and the Doctor merely grinned, "Was it something I said to him?" he inquired to me and I shook my head, "Some people can be incredibly touchy," I handed him a drill like object, "Thank you very much,"

"Ahh," I looked over to where Jack was watching Rose and Mickey kiss each other on the cheek and exchange pleasantries, "Look at these two, it's so sweet," he looked at the both of us, "How come I never get any of that," the Doctor and I both just grinned at him, "I'd buy you a drink, but both of you are such hard work,"

"But worth it," I retorted back with a grin. I looked back up to the Doctor, "Talking of drinks, you still owe me one from a few months ago, and I bet that you still don't have any money to buy anything," his answering smile told me everything, "Jack..." I called down to the man below, "If you buy me a drink then you're already doing better than this one here," I pointed at the Doctor, who held out his hand with the drill which I exchanged for the spanner, "Not to say that you're not doing well," I told the Doctor, "You're doing incredibly well..." he smiled down at me, and I grinned back, "Shutting up now,"

Rose held up her passport to the Doctor, before throwing mine, "We can travel anywhere now," she told him proudly, "I mean it's all very well taking us to Platform One, and Justicia, and the Glass Pyramid of San Kaloon, but what happen if we end up in Brazil? We might need our passports," I opened mine up, wincing a little at the picture of me. Did anyone like their passport photograph? Because I certainly didn't, "You see, we are prepared for anything," the Doctor craned his head to see the picture and I quickly snapped it shut.

"Sounds like you're staying then," Mickey said and suddenly the atmosphere turned, very, very awkward, "On board this thing," I shared a look with Jack, before passing the sonic to the Doctor. This was steering into unchartered territory, and I didn't know how to react if or when Rose would decide to leave. I wanted to stay here for as long as possible, but I didn't know how she felt, "So what are you doing in Cardiff?" Mickey changed the subject when there wasn't a reply from Rose, "And who the hell's Jumping Jack Flash," now there was a good nickname for him, "I mean I don't mind you travelling with old Big Ears up there," the Doctor made a note of outrage at that, "Look in the mirror!" he turned to look at Jack, "But him? He's sort of, I dunno...cheesy,"

"Early twenty first century slang," Jack leant against the console, looking up at the Doctor and me, "Is cheesy good or bad?" I shook my head at him, and he shrugged, clearly not bothered with the label that mickey had given him, "But bad means good, isn't that right?"

"Is he saying that I'm not handsome?" the Doctor asked me, finally taking off the flashlight on his head.

I put down the tools that I had been holding, "I wouldn't say that," I dismissed as we walked down the steps towards the three, "I'd say that you don't need to be handsome, you'd the same as ever. You're the Doctor. You'd be the same to me if you were handsome or if you had big ears," he grinned taking my hand, "Not that I don't like your face, your face is wonderful as it is," I leant on the console next to Jack, "We've just stopped for a while, Rickey, because we need to refuel," I told the mechanic, "You see there's a Rift in Time and Space, and happens to be running right through the centre of Cardiff. It's invisible, it's like a fault line for an earthquake, but it's between different dimensions,"

"The rift was healed in 1869, thanks to a girl named Gwyneth," Rose continued from me, "Because there were these creatures called the Gelth who were blue gas creatures that wanted to take over the human race by possessing their dead bodies," what a lovely adventure that was too, "And they were using the Rift as a gateway from one side of the universe to the other. However she saved the world, and closed it, leaving the Gelth trapped on the other side of the Rift, never able to escape the Rift or take over the Human Race again,"

"However, closing a Rift always leaves a scar," Jack inputted, "And that scar generates energy. It's invisible to everyone, but it's bleeding through all the time, and it's untraceable to anyone that doesn't know that it's there. Completely harmless to the human race, luckily enough, otherwise the whole city would have been completely wiped out by now,"

"But the radiation is perfect for the TARDIS," the Doctor finished for him, "All I need to do is park the TARDIS here for a couple of days, right on top of the Rift, open up the engines and soak up the radiation. Just like filling her up with petrol, and off we go,"

"Into time!" all four of us high fived each other, with large smiles on our faces, "And space!" I did say that most of the time spent together was laughing at one another, or at ourselves.

Mickey just looked at us like we were completely mad, "My God," he said staring at all of us, "Have you seen yourselves? You lot think you're so clever, don't you?" all of us time travellers looked at each other before nodding at him, "I give up with all of you. You're all completely insane," that comment just made me break down into laughter again. I knew that we were all probably insane, that was what came from travelling around in a tiny wooden box, but it was a good type of insanity. The type of insanity that didn't take what you saw by granted, or made excuses for it. The type of insanity that really made you look at things and see them for what they truly were.

I thought that was the best type of insanity of all.

* * *

**Ok, so this chapter doesn't really cover a lot of what is actually in the episode but I think that's why I like it so much. It's a little bit of life outside of the episodes, with a lot less runing around. Even if I so like the running around parts.**

**Either way, I'll see you tomorrow with the next chapter hopefully.**

**Over and out.**


	52. Boom Town: Part 2

**Apologies this wasn't up yesterday. Work seemed to take forever, and I fell asleep almost immediately when I got home.**

**Thank you for all those thatt reviewed, grapejuice101, DragonRose4, Shaybo27, LifeShutterSpeed, Ryn of Magic, and The Order of the Crystal Rose. Love all of your reviews.**

**Shaybo27- Hope you managed to get to watch the new episode, because it was fantastic!**

**Anyone else see it? I won't give anything away, but I have to say, I loved it a lot.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

Boom Town: Part 2

Eventually the Doctor had finished all his repairs on the TARDIS, and opened up the engines in order to make sure that the radiation should fill up the TARDIS. Which meant, the Doctor said, that we could have fun looking around Cardiff. I had never been to Cardiff before, except in 1869, which I didn't really think counted seeing as most of the time it was spent looking at the inside of an undertakers, but I was up for looking around the city, because realistically there had already been trouble in Cardiff once before, and you know what they said. Lightning never struck twice. And besides, anything that kept us entertained until the TARDIS had refuelled herself was a very good thing. It might not have quite rivalled the beauty of Woman Wept or San Kaloon, but Cardiff Bay did look very pretty as we walked out into the rather chilly cold. October weather.

"Right then," the Doctor shut the door of the TARDIS behind him as we all gathered outside, dressed in gloves, mittens, scarves, jumpers, coats, and in my case, a woolly hat. My ears tended to get very sensitive when it was cold, so I wore the blue woolly hat that I had found in the wardrobe. I liked it, and didn't particularly care whether it looked funny or not, "The TARDIS should take another twenty four hours until we can fly off to distant lands and sunsets long forgotten. Which therefore gives us time to kill. Shore leave if you like,"

"That old woman's staring at us," Jack noticed, motioning towards an old lady that was watching us with a slightly confused expression on her face. He nudged me with his elbow, grinning, "I bet she's probably wondering what five people could possibly be doing inside a small wooden box," I smirked at him, before waving obviously at the woman who straightened up, and bustled off, "You're always ruining my fun, Miss Mary," he complained, and I laughed, taking the Doctor's hand, already ready to wander off.

"What are you a captain of?" Mickey asked Jack, "The Innuendo Squad?" I stifled a laugh in the Doctor's shoulder when Jack merely gave Mickey the whatever sign with his hands, before turning to walk off, "But...hold on!" All four of us sighed before turning back to Mickey, who was still standing right by the TARDIS doors, "What about the TARDIS, how can you just leave it in the middle of Cardiff Bay? I mean, doesn't it get noticed or anything by people? And you haven't exactly locked it or anything,"

"What is with the whole police box thing anyway?" Jack said, leaning against the side of it, "Why does it look like that? Not that I don't like it or anything but it is rather an eccentric thing to have in the middle of a city,"

"It's a clocking device, a chameleon circuit," the Doctor explained, "The TARDIS was meant to disguise itself wherever it lands, like if we were in Ancient Rome then it'd be a statue on a plinth, but I landed in the nineteen sixties, it disguised itself as a police box and the circuit got stuck," he rapped the side of the TARDIS amicably, "They used to have these things on police corners. For the police to phone for help before they had radios and mobiles. If they arrested anyone then they could shove them in here, until they could get help. Like a little prison cell," he smiled at us, "Never bothered to repair it, liked it too much,"

"I love it," I added.

Mickey let out a laugh, "But that's just it," he pointed out, "There aren't any police phone boxes anymore, so doesn't it get noticed by everyone that walks past it? I mean I noticed it easy enough when I got here. How come you don't have people banging on your door all the time? Like the actual police wondering why a 1960s police box is cluttering up the view?"

The Doctor sighed, placing his hands on the man's shoulder, "Ricky, let me tell you something about the human race," he said patiently, using his patronising tone on him, "You put a mysterious blue box slap bang in the middle of town, what do they do?" we all paused for his answer and he grinned, "Walk past it. Now, stop your nagging. Let's go and explore," he grasped my hand, as we walked towards what looked like a row of shops and restaurants, "So Cardiff, early twenty first century and the wind's coming from the east. Trust me," he looked down at me, "It's safest place in the universe,"

"Oh do you have to say that?" I inquired, "That's almost as bad as saying, nothing could ever go wrong," I shrugged, feeling the sea air hit my face, "Anyway, I agree with you, what could possibly happen here? Cardiff already had all those problems with the Gelth, I doubt that there'll be any such adventure here, unless you count finding some money in those pockets of yours," he patted them, and there was no answering jangle of coins. I grinned at his predictably result, "Ahh never mind, I think I have got some change on me," I dug through my pockets, "Three quid...oh for the life of commerce," we both burst into laughter, and I looked behind me, "Hurry up, you three, we'll never get anywhere if you keep being that slow,"

"I am not slow," Jack quickly caught up with us, "Although Mickey Mouse and Rose over there are as slow as snails. Probably cultivating that lovebird atmosphere between them again, although I have no idea why she's choosing him over me," I rolled my eyes at his complaining, "What?" Jack gestured outwards, "I'm a fifty first century guy, all your twenty first century rules are so amusing to see,"

"I'm starting to think, Jack, that you're only ever going to be happy with yourself," I told him sweetly, "If it wouldn't cause the end of the world or a paradox then we could go meet yourself," Jack opened his mouth to retort something at me and then closed it, clearly thinking about what I was just saying, "Told you," I continued, "Only person you're going to be happy with,"

"Hey, I resent that," he said to me, "Miss Mary, you could always take me up on that offer of a drink," the Doctor turned to give him a look, and Jack raised his hands in defeat, "You two are no fun. You're almost as bad at those two back there," he pointed behind us, "Lovebirds, dancing together. Ever since I joined the gang, I haven't slept with a single person, you know that? Not a single one,"

I frowned at that, "You slept with the Princess of Califrax Major," I reminded him, "We had to rescue you because the guards were going to arrest you, and execute you. The Doctor had to promise them that you would never return to the planet in case you tried it again," Jack didn't seem to hear that, "Am I talking to a brick wall?" I asked the Doctor who nodded. I shivered slightly, rubbing my arms again, "How about we try to find a cafe or something to eat in. Somewhere warm perhaps. Where we aren't going to freeze our arms and legs off,"

"There should be a cafe around here," he said to me, "Although you look like a miniature snowman so I doubt that you're going to freeze anytime soon," Did he just suggest that I was short, and fat? Or simply just wearing too many clothes, "Well it's a little different to what you were wearing in 1941,"

"I was dressing for Rome," I argued back, "I didn't think that we were going to be in an air raid in the middle of the night in the middle of 1941," an old man passed us, giving us all strange looks, "I really shouldn't talk to loud, I'm scaring the locals with my nonsensical madness," he laughed a little, his face lighting up. I watched him carefully. He had changed so much since I had met him all that time ago, it was like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulder and he like living life. And I would do anything to make sure that weight on his shoulders would stay off, even if I had to stay with him for the rest of my life.

We finally reached the cafe, finding a table large enough to fit all of us in, "So who are you?" Mickey asked Jack, "How did you end up travelling with this lot?"

"1941," Rose answered him, saving Jack from having to answer Mickey, "We were in the middle of an air raid, almost getting turned into these gas mask creatures, and almost getting blown up by the bombs, and he comes swooping in with his spaceship just in the nick of time. Saved us all," that was certainly the nicest way of saying what had happened, "Jack's from the fifty first century, and he was part of this Time Agency, but ended up in the twentieth," she kicked Jack from under the table, "So you were going to finish telling us about that mammoth, Jack," she pressed him.

And so for the next half an hour, Jack regaled us with even more stories about the Time Agency, with the Doctor and I inputted our teasing remarks in between sentences. Even Mickey looked like he was having a fun time, "I swear..." Jack promised us, "Sixty foot tall, and with tusks, it turns out that the white things were tusks!" all of us were laughing at his description, "I mean, tusks, and it is not happy. And we are standing there, all fifteen of us, naked, and I'm like, it nothing to do with me," Rose dissolved into giggles at that point, "And then it roars, and we are running, oh my God, we are running. And Brakovitch falls, and I turn back, and I say..."

"I knew we should have turned left!" Mickey finished, guessing the punchline, and we all dissolved into laughter once again. I had my face in my hands, laughing at the story. With Jack, there really never was a serious moment amongst us.

"I didn't get my clothes back," Jack carried on, "I just picked him up, and ran back to the ship, full throttle, kept going until I hit the space lanes," the Doctor stood up, walking over to another man, and taking his newspaper, "Kept going till I hit the space lanes, and then I was shaking. Didn't hit me until I was fifteen light years away..." I watched the Doctor leaf through the newspaper, a grim look on his face.

The others conversation just faded around me, as he looked up at us. I tapped Jack on the shoulder and we all turned to look at the Doctor, "And I was having such a nice day," he said to us, holding up the front page that showed a picture of that female Slitheen, that had tried to kill all of us, all those months ago. I frowned at the title, 'New Mayor, New Cardiff' and I slumped back in my seat. So maybe there were some serious moment.

"But that's the woman," Rose said, taking the paper off him and opening it up, "That's the Slitheen in Downing Street," he scanned through the article and I looked at the Doctor who was watching the seaside with a grim look on his face, "What the hell is she doing in Cardiff, I thought that she got blown up with the rest of the Slitheen when Mickey sent that missile to them,"

Jack looked merely confused, so I decided to take pity on him, "Couple of months ago, the last time Rose and I came back home," I told him, "There was this family, the Slitheen, and they sort of wanted to take over the world, rip it apart and use it as fuel for every space ship," he nodded, "They managed to crash land a spaceship in the middle of the Thames, smashing Big Ben as they did it, and declared a Code Red on the entire planet. We got taken to Downing Street where we got Mickey to send a missile to us, blowing up the Prime Minister's House. All in all, a good day's work, by our standards,"

"Says here, that they're building a nuclear power station," Rose looked up at us, "Margaret Blaine, that the Slitheen, she's building a nuclear power station in the middle of Cardiff as a monument to Welsh industry," she turned to the Doctor, "Do you think that she means it?"

"She tried to kill us, I'm not in a particularly forgiving mood when people try to kill me," he said, thrusting his hands deep into his pockets, "So I think we need to have a talk with Margaret Blaine and find out exactly what she is doing in the middle of Cardiff of all places," he walked already walking towards the exit, "Come on,"

I quickly fell in line with him, "So you think that she's trying to take over Cardiff or something?" I asked him and he shrugged, clearly unable to answer, "You think she knows that we're here? Or that we were gonna be here?"

"Nah, I think that she's here for something though," he admitted, as we walked quickly towards the town hall, "It's just a question of what she wants, but we're going to stop her anyway. She still did try to kill us in Downing Street, remember," I grimaced, remembering what had happened at what seemed like years ago. I also remembered the Slitheen's huge talons and how I didn't want them near me any time soon, "We'll just have a nice little talk with her,"

Eventually we reached the town hall, and I looked around the interior, "All right," Jack opened his wrist strap, "According to intelligence, namely Miss Mary, the target is the last surviving member of the Slitheen family, a criminal sect from the planet Raxacoricofallapatorius," I still loved that name, "And she is masquerading as a human zipped inside a skin suit. Ok," he clapped his hands, "Plan of attack, we assume a basic fifty seven/fifty six strategy, covering all available exits on the ground floor. Doctor, you go face to face, so let's designate that as Exit One. I'll cover Exit Two, Rose, Exit Three, Mickey Smith, Exit Four and Miss Mary, Exit Five. Have you got that?"

"Excuse me?" we all turned to the Doctor who was glaring at Jack, "Who's in charge?" the fifty first century man merely sighed, placing his hands behind his back like he was waiting for orders, "Thank you," the Doctor looked forward, "Right, here's the plan," he grinned, "Like he said," nodding at Jack, "Nice plan, any more ideas?"

Jack sighed, grinning, "Present arms," we all took out our mobiles, "Speed dial," he grinned at all of us, "Right then, let's go. See you in hell," I mocked saluted at him before walking down my own exit, placing my phone to my ear.

"Slitheen heading north," the Doctor suddenly said, and I looked around before running towards the Exit I was supposed to be on. Only trouble was I didn't exactly know where Exit Five was. That was a rather big problem.

I however ran smack bang into someone, and fell back. I looked up at Jack, frowning slightly, "Jack?" I asked him, and he helped me up, "Where on Earth did you get the coat from?" and he was wearing a coat that I hadn't seen him wearing just five minutes earlier, "I mean I know that you like dressing up, but we're trying to catch a Slitheen and now isn't the right time to find a random coat that is from the nineteen forties. I thought that you left that all behind,"

"Oh, I've missed you too, Mary-Anne," he told me, placing his hands on his waist, "Exit Five, right?" I nodded, "Go down that corridor, turn right and you should be going the right way," he patted me on the back, walking the other way, "Don't wait up for me," I turned around, looking at him, "What is it, Miss Mary?"

I opened my mouth, looking at him. Something wasn't quite right about him, but I merely shook my head, "Nice coat, Jack," I walked backwards, "Anyway, see you in hell, remember," he nodded, and I ran down the corridor the way he told me to and burst through the doors, right in front of Jack, Rose and the Doctor. I stared at Jack, he had been going the other way! "Lost the coat then?" he stared at me, "What the hell was that back there then?"

"Don't know what you're talking about, Miss Mary," he replied and I blinked. How could he have just not know what I was talking about, he had just been wearing a huge blue coat, "How did you manage to get through those doors,"

"You just told me," I said slowly, "Not five minutes ago, you said that I had to go down a corridor, turn right and through the doors," he just looked at me as if I were mad, "Nevermind, talk about it later when we're not trying to find a Slitheen," I looked around, seeing Margaret Blaine running away from us, "Err...who was on Exit Four again?"

"That would be Ricky," the Doctor said and the man in question ran up behind us, "Mickey the Idiot," the woman suddenly disappeared from the small alleyway, "Oh teleports, I love teleports," he held up the sonic screwdriver, buzzing it. Margaret appeared in front of us, startled, turned around and ran back the way that she came, disappearing as she did so. Again, he buzzed the sonic and she appeared right in front of us, "I could do this all day," he boasted easily to us.

"I couldn't," she snarled, "This is persecution. Oh, why can't you just leave me alone, whatever did I do to any of you?"

"You tried to kill me and destroy this entire planet," the Doctor said as if it were obvious.

"Apart from that?" she argued.

I thought about it, "You did destroy a clock that's been here for nearly one hundred and fifty years, and is practically one of Britain's famous landmarks," I said, and she glared at me, "Don't look at me like that, you asked,"

* * *

**So another chapter over, and so we find ourselves reaching the end. As for the last bit. Always wondered what happened to the other Jack in Cardiff, because if I'd been waiting over a hundred years to find someone, I'd go and have a look, even if it wasn't the right Doctor. That and I wanted to have a bit of fun.**

**See you soon.**


	53. Boom Town: Part 3

**How is everyone? Hopefully all is well with everyone today. I had to go to the dentist. Have to say I'm not a big fan of them, mainly because I can't stand that clincal smell. I don't have anything against dentists as people, just in case you, who are reading this, are a dentist. Just don't like the smell, same with hospitals.**

**Sorry, rambling...moving swiftly on.**

**So we are into the third chapter of Boom Town and gearing up to the two big chapters. Once again, thank you for all those that reviewed, grapejuice101, Shaybo27, LifeShutterSpeed, TheGirlWhoImagined, and Ryn of Magic. You all get virtual cookies. To all those that didn't review...well thanks for reading the chapter anyway.**

**Either way, onwards and upwards.**

* * *

Boom Town: Part 3

After we had finally captured Margaret, we frogmarched her to the meeting room where there was the large model of what had to be the nuclear power station that we had read about in the newspaper. I was still wondering about Jack though, how had he managed to get rid of the coat so quickly. It had been a nice coat as well, "So, you're a Slitheen," the Doctor noted as we entered the room, "You're on Earth, your family gets killed but you teleported out, just in the nick of time. You're alone, you're trapped, no means of escape, so what do you do?" we all looked at the large model, "You build a nuclear power station, that happens to be right on top of the Rift. What for?"

Margaret looked rather contrite at us, "A philanthropic gesture," she said and I scoffed audibly. If I was bad at lying then she had to be even worse, "I've learnt the error of my ways," she looked at all of our unconvinced faces. She had laughed at us while we were in Downing Street, trapped inside that Cabinet Room with no way, that the Slitheen knew, of contact the outside world. Apologies but I wasn't feeling particularly generous towards her when she had nearly killed all of us in a haze of nuclear weaponry, "And what Rift would you be talking about,"

"A Rift in space and time," Jack told her, "Now it's closed, but the scar is right below the main reactor, and if that power station went into meltdown, it would open the Rift. Instant catastrophe, the whole planet goes..." he made the noise of a very loud explosion, "So the whole station is designed to explode the moment it reaches capacity," he looked at Margaret, "A very unusual philanthropic gesture by the way, ripping apart a planet. I'm sure everyone here will be very kind and thank you for the gesture," she just looked sour at his words.

"But didn't anyone notice?" Rose asked her, and I looked at Rose. I hadn't thought of that, she was very good at that, seeing the little details that would pass everyone else by. Hadn't even crossed my mind that London would think, "Isn't there someone in London checking this sort of stuff. I mean," she shrugged, "Big nuclear power station being built right on top of Cardiff, you would think that there would be hundreds of officials wandering around looking at what was happening all the way down here in Cardiff,"

Margaret scoffed, "We're in Cardiff," she replied to her, "London doesn't care. The South Wales coast could fall into the sea an they wouldn't notice..." she trailed off, looking slightly horrified at herself, "Oh I sound like a Welshman," she looked at us, "God help me, I've gone native,"

"But why?" Rose insisted, and I grabbed a chair, from the side, looking at the model in front of us, "I mean, why would she do all that? Great big explosion, she would just end up ripping herself apart along with the rest of us. There isn't any point to building this whole thing when she would kill herself when the whole thing exploded and pulled the rift apart," Margaret glared at her, "Sorry, but it's true. You teleported to safety, leaving the rest of your family alone to die in the missile at Downing Street, and then you kill yourself by blowing up a nuclear power station. Unless you're suicidal, there's no point to it,"

"Oh, but she is clever," the Doctor told us, before pushing over the towers on the model and ripping up something from it. He flipped it over to show what looked like a massive circuit board underneath, complete with flashing lights and wires. Something tells me that wasn't exactly in the design for the nuclear power station, "Absolutely fantastic,"

Jack's eyes however had gotten really very wide, "Is that a tribophysical waveform microkinetic extrapolator?" he asked, taking it from the Doctor to stare at the circuit board with awe and wonder. However what he just said completely passed over my head. I didn't know what the hell he just said, "You didn't build this," he told Margaret, who looked like she was about to argue, "No, you really, really didn't build this, way beyond you," he placed it on the floor, "It's transport," he told Rose, Mickey and me, "You see, when the reactor blows up, the rift opens, huge cosmic disaster, but this thing shrouds you in this force field, an energy bubble, all around you, so you're safe. Then you feed it coordinates, stand on top, and ride the concussion all the way out of the solar system," he grinned, "Basically a pan-dimensional surfboard,"

"And I would have done it," Margaret snarled at us, "It would have worked so beautifully, and if you hadn't have ended up here then no one would have even questioned it. I would have sailed away from this dead end dump and back to civilisation before anyone would have noticed. Just like stepping on an ant hill, and nothing would have saved this planet," well that was a very nice gesture in itself. Wonderful. Not.

"How did you think of the name?" I turned to see the Doctor standing at the end of the room looking up at the sign that proclaimed the name of the project. Blaid Drwg, what was so special about that? It was just a name, "I mean I know that it's Welsh but how did you think of calling the project this precisely?"

"I don't know," the Slitheen in disguise moved around the table, clearly not bothered with his questioning the same as the rest of us weren't particularly bothered either, "Blaid Drwg, it's Welsh, and it sounded good, so I used it. Chose it pretty much at random if I'm honest," she looked speculatively at him, "Does it matter?"

"Blaid Drwg," the Doctor turned around to look at us, "Do you know what Blaid Drwg is in English?" he asked us and I shook my head. Did it matter? Was it relevant? "It means Bad Wolf," a cold iciness spread through my veins at that. Wolves...that wasn't good in any way I thought about it. I looked over to Margaret Blaine, she had chosen to name a nuclear power project: Bad Wolf? Rather odd name for a project at any point in time.

"But..." Rose started, "I've heard that before. Bad Wolf," I looked over at her, frowning. What was she talking about. I couldn't remember seeing the words Bad Wolf before now, "I've heard that lots of times," she turned to me, "Gwyneth said something about the Bad Wolf, and then it was spray painted on the side of the TARDIS and then..." she trailed off, thinking about it hard, "Then I think it was painted on the wall when we went to 1987. Everywhere we go, Bad Wolf, just Bad Wolf," I couldn't think of what she was talking about, "Don't you remember?"

"Bad Wolf sounds like a very poor name for a band," I said, shrugging, "I don't remember anything about Bad Wolf before, but I would say that I wouldn't personally go near anything that mentioned the word: wolf," she rolled her eyes, but still just looked worried. Whatever it was, it probably had her rather spooked. "It's probably just something that you heard somewhere," I reassured her. I hated wolves but I wasn't worried about a couple of words on a nuclear power project, "It's like hearing a particular word on the radio and then then hearing it all day," she still didn't look particularly reassured, but I turned to the Doctor, "So what do we do with her?" I nodded at Margaret.

"Take her back home," he said bluntly, "Raxacoricofallapatorius is a nice place, there are decent people. They can decide to do what to do with her," he looked at Margaret, "Hope you don't mind, we'll drop you there when the TARDIS has refuelled and then be on our way. No problem whatsoever,"

"I can't believe it," Rose smiled at the Doctor, "We actually get to go to Raxa..." she stuttered, and the Doctor rolled his eyes, "No, hold on, wait a minute, Raxacorico...fallapatorius," she spelt out slowly, "Raxacoricofallapatorius. I did it!" she grinned, the Doctor hugging her with a wide grin on his face, and I smiled at her infectious happiness.

"They have the death penalty," Margaret announced and all our smiles dropped from our faces. Awkward, "The family Slitheen were tried in their absence many years ago and found guilty with no chance of appeal. According to the statues of government I am to be executed the moment that I return," Now that was extremely awkward, it was one thing taking someone home to their planet to leave them to the authorities but a completely different thing to take them home while knowing that they were to be executed, "What do you make of that, Doctor?" she inquired of him, "Take me home and you'll take me to my death,"

I stared at the Doctor, who merely looked back at Margaret, "Not my problem," he said calmly. It was just like with Cassandra's death all that time ago on Platform One, that I couldn't see that she should live when so many others had died. However there was that flutter deep within me, that knowledge biting away that I should let her go. It was wonderful when everyone lived, but I had never protested against the deaths of Cassandra, or the Slitheen in Downing Street, the Dalek, the Editor and the Jagrafess. Because they had killed, I spared no thought to when they were killed. And now it was biting at me to remember that, "Come on," the Doctor shook me out of my thoughts, "Let's get back to the TARDIS, and Jack, bring the extrapolator,"

"Like you could stop me," my friend said walking behind Margaret, carrying the large extrapolator in his hands, "Forward march, if you please," Margaret shot one baleful glare at the room before walking out of the room after the Doctor. I quickly fell in line with the Doctor when we reached Cardiff Bay. I noted that he was strangely silent, unlike he was usually.

"It makes you wonder, doesn't it," I murmured to him, "Whether you think that what we're doing is right or not," he didn't answer me, but I knew that he was thinking about it, so I pressed on. We were walking quite a way from the other three, so we could be out of earshot from them if we spoke quietly but able to catch Margaret if she caught us, "I mean it's not like she's dying like the Jagrafess because it was Cathica, or the Dalek because it wanted to, but this is us...delivering her literally to death's door. It's a little different to what is generally the normal for us,"

He turned to look at me "Could you do it?" he asked, "Could you send her back home although knowing that she will be executed?" he grasped both my hands, "She did try to kill us in Downing Street, remember. They were going to rip apart the Earth then, and she was going to do the same thing for slightly different reasons now. She hasn't changed, it's still the same ideas with her. Killing thousands for a profit of some sort,"

I hesitated, "I know, Doctor, I know that she's a killer," I swayed slightly, looking out at the sea, the TARDIS slightly behind us, "I suppose the main reason that I don't like it is that we're actually taking her to her death, she didn't just die because of something else. If we take her back to Raxacoricofallapatorius, does that make us as back as she is? Or are we just doing the world a favour and this is the right thing to do?"

He looked at me long and hard, before saying, "We better get into the TARDIS, we don't want Margaret running loose in there," and just by saying that I knew that he was having just as much trouble as I was trying to draw the lines between what we did was right and what we did was easy for us to do. He smiled at me, "We don't want to get cold standing around here like chickens, do we?"

I smiled slightly, walking back with him, my woolly hat still jammed on my head, "No, of course we don't," I replied, "Back we go to the TARDIS, where it is nice and warm, where Jack, Rose and Rickey are," and where there was a potentially mass murdering alien as well, which we were going to send to her death. I didn't say this out loud to the Doctor, thinking it over. This was just what I needed from Cardiff, an ethical debate coming from someone who had tried to kill us.

* * *

Margaret however was having no such problem being back in the TARDIS. She was fascinated with every surface, every button on the console, even the structures that held up the roof. However she was most fascinated with how the TARDIS was bigger on the inside, which was understandable, "Oh but this ship is impossible," she grinned, "It's superb," and that was a little bit different to what she was saying a couple of months ago in the middle of Downing Street, "How do you get the inside around the outside?" she asked the Doctor who looked amused but didn't answer her, "I almost feel better about being defeated, we never stood a chance. This is the technology of the Gods,"

"Ohh, I wouldn't start worshipping me," the Doctor informed her bluntly, fixing some wires, "I'd make a very bad God. Very few people would get a day off for instance," he grinned at me before looking down at Jack who was under the console busy trying to link the extrapolator to the console, "Jack, how we doing, big fella?"

The other man poked his head out to look at us, "This extrapolator is top of the range," he remarked, narrowing his eyes at Margaret, "Where did you get it?" the woman pretended not to hear him, "Bet it was a great big heist, it's stacked with power," he looked over to the Doctor, "It'll take a bit of work, it's not compatible, but it should knock off around twelve hours. We'll be ready to go by morning,"

"We've got a prisoner," Rose noted, smiling, "That's weird, the police box is actually a police box," I sat back at that, the thought running through my mind. It was a slightly kind look on what we actually were in terms of Margaret's imprisonment here.

Clearly she agreed with that thought because the Slitheen merely smiled at us, rolling a metallic silver ball between her hands, "You're not just police, though," she said sweetly, and I had a very bad sense of foreboding at whatever she was going to say next, "Since you're taking me to my death, that makes you my executioners," now that was a great way of rubbing it into what was already becoming a very sore wound for me, "Each and every one of you," I looked up at the ceiling not wanting to meet her eyes about this. This was already becoming a very bad idea.

"Well you deserve it," Mickey said to her bluntly.

"You're very quick to say so," she retorted, "And yet, very quick to soak your hands in my blood. Which makes you better than me, how exactly?" there wasn't an answer from any of us, all of us not liking where this conversation was quickly going, "Long night ahead," I looked quickly over to her, seeing her sit down on the console seat, before looking swiftly away, "Let's see who can look me in the eye,"

I stubbornly didn't look at her, which probably only served to make her feel vindicated and me in even more turmoil over the whole process. What the hell were we supposed to do about this now?

* * *

**So what did you think? Good, bad, ugly?**

**To the whole Jack thing last chapter yesterday. I figured that it was more a self fullfilling paradox. Jack could have only been there if Alice had seen him and mentioned it because she saw him. Paradoxs are confusing plus I figured that it's honestly not the strangest thing seen on Doctor Who, and I think that the whole Bad Wolf was also a self fulfilling paradox as well.**

**Plus I had fun writing that bit :)**

**I love people's input, and constructive criticism. Or even just a smiley face. I like smiley faces.**

**See you soon.**

**:)**


	54. Boom Town: Part 4

**Hello, me again. With a new chapter. Horrah :)**

**Thank you for all those that reviewed. And all the smiley faces :) We like smiley faces a lot.**

**To Randi101- Happy birthday for today.**

**sailormajinmoon- Hope you had a great holiday.**

* * *

Boom Town: Part 4

Half an hour later and I was fiddling with the screen, watching Rose and Mickey walk away towards the town, holding hands. I only envied them in that they could get away from the lady who was walking around the TARDIS silently and making everyone feel worse about themselves than they would care to admit. Either way, I was glad that her and Mickey were seeing more of each other. Even if the small voice in the back of my head worried me by whispering something about her leaving the TARDIS to stay with Mickey and Mum. I knew she wouldn't by any long shot, but the idea wouldn't leave me alone.

I turned the dial on the console, the camera showing the surroundings that mad up Cardiff Bay. No one could argue with the beauty of this part of Cardiff. The opera house was in one corner, the sea in the other and the silver fountain behind us, and all of it was lit up in the dark. Very different to the undertakers that we had visited in the eighteen hundreds, much more friendly, "I imagine it's not always like this," Margaret said to us, and I zoomed the camera around slightly more fiercely than I had before, "Having to wait. I bet you're always the first to leave, Doctor. Never mind the consequences, off you go. You butchered my family and then ran for the stars, am I right?" from the stiffening of the Doctor's shoulders, I could tell that she was getting to him, "But not this time. This time you have consequences. How does that feel?"

"I didn't butcher them," he said, not looking at her, and I snapped open my diary, reading the entry about the Slitheen over and over again. It was like when you're reading a book when you're extremely tired, and you just read one sentence over and over again, none of it actually ever going in. It was like that, but more unkind, "I didn't," he defended himself at Jack's look at him which was probably more to do with not answering her than anything else, "What about you? You had an emergency teleport, you didn't exactly teleport them to safety, did you?"

"It only carries one," she retorted, and the distress was quite evident in her voice. I did have to remember that her whole family did die in Downing Street, "I had to fly without coordinates. I ended up in a skip on the Isle of Dogs," I couldn't help but start to laugh at that, and the Doctor and Jack clearly were on the same wavelength as me as they burst into laughter as well, "It's not funny," we all quietened down at that, unable to get rid of a smile and I saw Margaret smile slightly from where she was sitting, "Do I get a last request?" she suddenly asked.

"It depends what it is," the Doctor said, bent over a piece of wiring, fixing it carefully, "We're not letting you go, and we're not going to let you wander around another planet where you can disappear and start another problem over there,"

"I grew quite fond of my little human life," she told us, "All those rituals, the brushing of the teeth, and the complicated way that they cook their food," she turned to look at us, "There's a little restaurant, just around the bay which became quite a favourite of mine. Could we go there?" the Doctor looked at her with a rather puzzled look on his face, "Don't I get rights?" she asked viciously.

"Is that what you want?" he asked her, "A last meal," he shook his head, "Like you're not going to try and escape over there,"

"Except I can never escape you, Doctor, so where's the danger?" she hissed viciously, "I wonder whether you could do it. To sit with a creature you're about to kill, and take supper. I wonder. I've seen you fight your enemies. Now dine with them," this was a bad idea, either way you looked at it. But at the challenge, the Doctor just looked rather resolved at doing just that, "I wonder how strong is your stomach,"

The Doctor only looked at her without any emotion, "Strong enough," he said calmly, folding his arms, and I swallowed slightly, "And you won't change my my mind, but there are people out there. If you slipped away for just one second, they'd be in danger,"

"Except," Jack grinned, "I've got these," he produced two silver bracelets, "They can also be used as handcuffs, I picked them up in a market while at the Time Agency. Basically you each wear one of these, and if she moves more than ten feet," he made a loud buzzing noise and Margaret jumped back slightly, "She get's zapped with ten thousand bolts," That was quite an insurance to make her not run away at any time while they were out there and the Doctor clearly thought so as he grinned, taking the two bangles and turning to Margaret.

"Margaret, can I take you out to dinner?" he asked her, "My treat?" Margaret smiled at him and I made a face at Jack who let out a laugh before quietening down when the Slitheen looked at her. The Doctor clipped one of the silver handcuffs to her, before fastening the other on his own arm, "Don't worry, we won't be out all night," he reassured us, "Definitely back before midnight," he pulled on his coat, "Come along, Margaret, we don't want you to wander off, now do we?" I waved sarcastically at her as they exited the TARDIS and I slumped immediately back on the seat, watching them walk away from the police box.

"Anything interesting on?" Jack asked, from behind me and I tapped the buttons to make the screen go blank immediately, "That interesting, huh?" he grinned at me before going back to the console where the extrapolator was beeping away, "You know that it's only dinner," he informed me, and I looked towards him with an innocent expression on my face, "They're only going out because she wants to try and convince him not to take her back to Raxacoricofallapatorius, other than that there isn't a reason that he's taking her to dinner. So don't worry,"

"Worry about what?" I inquired, "I'm not worrying about anything," he didn't look convinced at my defence, "I know he's only taking her to dinner because she asked him to. There's nothing wrong with that," I rubbed my hands on my trousers, "The man's nine hundred years old, he can do what he likes," I tapped the screen again, my hand going to the pocket watch that lay at the bottom of my pocket, clicking it open and shut it backwards and forwards again, "And even if he did take her out for dinner, it's none of my business. He can do what he likes,"

"Liar," he replied and I shot him a look, "Hey, it's nothing to do with me but I think you should tell him what you feel about him," I turned back to studying the screen intently, trying to put his words out of my mind, "He's only the Doctor,"

"Yes, that's exactly the point," I said to him, "He's the Doctor. He's my best friend, he's an alien and he's nine hundred years older than me," I sat on the seat, watching the screen, "So I've travelled with him to the year five billion, seen Charles Dickens with him, been to Downing Street with him, met my Dad with him," I rubbed my forehead, looking over at Jack, "He knows what scares me, what I love, what I hate, what my childhood was like, what I did with my life. He's my best friend but I don't have a good history of people reacting well to that sort of thing. Beside he..." I closed my eyes, thinking back to that day after the Slitheen, "Well...I think he already knows,"

"But you haven't said it specifically," he pressed, and I didn't answer him, "Trust me, you should tell him precisely. A man doesn't wait forever, you know, even if he might have forever to do so," he placed a hand on my shoulder, "Trust me, if he knows everything about you then he should know this. Bold print. I mean he already looks at you as if the sun has just risen after a rainy night,"

I smiled to myself at that, "I think everyone falls in love with the Doctor," I told him honestly, "They can't help it. He offers you the whole of time and space, and you see everything that's out there and it's amazing...fantastic and absolutely brilliant. Completely brilliant," I smiled, "You see everything so differently, see that even though you're running for your life, you don't care because it's the best feeling in the world...every world. And then you look at the Doctor and he is wonderful. How could he not be and I can't...I just can't tell him that I love him, knowing that he can't say it back to me. He is so old, older than me, by a long, long way. But I think he knows, I hope he knows. And you know," I moved around the console, "Perhaps one day, one day I will tell him," I ran a hand through my hair, "Listen to me, I've only known him for a couple of months,"

"I was with someone for two weeks," he answered me, "I mean we were trapped in a time loop for five years, but it was still...two weeks," his grin told me everything, "Besides, you can't help who you fall for. And you've fallen. I recognise the symptoms," I swatted him on the arm, and he recoiled back amused, "The Doctor and Miss Mary," his smile looked slightly worried at that, "You'll go on forever,"

I snorted amused, "Forever is a long time," I reminded him, "Not everything lasts forever you know," I looked at him speculatively, "When we first met, the first time you stepped onto this ship, I told you my full name," he nodded, still focussed on the extrapolator, "When I did tell you, you looked like you had seen a ghost," he didn't stop fixing the wires, now deliberately not looking towards me, "Almost like you recognised my name, but you didn't show any signs of recognition when you first saw me. Why did you do that?" Hesitate at my name,"

"In the Time Agency, you get to hear about the other Time Travellers that are around," he replied, "The Justice Department with their Tesselectas," I frowned at that, "Robots with miniaturised people inside that deal out justice through Time travel. I'm not too sure about how they do it," he waved a hand, "But there are others that have Time Travel. There are always rumours floating around about the others. Time Lords included," he finally looked at me, "I recognise your because there was a rumour floating around about someone named Mary-Anne Tyler,"

"What was it about?" I asked him, and he shook his head, "Jack..." I warned him, "It's my future, this is me that we are talking about. What did the rumour say?" he didn't answer me, "Is my future really that bad? Please tell me Jack,"

"Playing around with future events is dangerous," he reminded me, "One thing that we could say could completely rewrite something else, change time," he sighed, and I sat back in the seat, "You can't afford to change time,"

"The Doctor says that time can be rewritten," I argued, "If you change the in flux stuff leading up to the fixed point then surely the fixed point can change," he gave me a look that clearly told me that was a very bad idea, "So time is like a fast flowing river with stepping stones in it? When the water hits the stone is bends around the stone, but never breaks it down. And what you heard was about a fixed point?"

He put down his tools, holding my hands, "Things change, Miss Mary, you can't deny that time changes, but you'll be fine. Just stick with the Doctor and you'll be...amazing," I smiled at him, "Besides..." he turned back to the extrapolator, "You never know how much time you actually have left, so live today when you don't know about tomorrow," he fished around in his pockets, "And here..." he handed his squareness gun to me, "Take this,"

"But this is your squareness gun," I told him, taking it carefully, "I can't take this! And besides, I'm not going to shoot anyone in the face if I can help it,"

"Well it's a very good lock picking device then," he reasoned, "And you never know when you might need it. Good escape route," I sighed, before placing it on the console, "Besides I don't need it, I've got other guns lying around. It's always good to have a back up," a chill ran through me at those words and I rubbed my arms to try and warm myself up, "You all right, Miss Mary?"

"Yeah," I nodded, before standing up, still feeling like someone had walked all over my grave, "I'm just going to go get my coat, won't be a minute," I turned to walk out of the console room before catching the reflection of the console, "Jack?" I called, "Can you come here a second," I didn't my eyes off reflection, and Jack stood next to me, "What do you see when you look into that reflection?"

"The two of us," he said, before going back to where he had been working, "I thought you were going to get that coat of yours," I nodded distantly, before turning back. True enough, there wasn't anyone else there in the reflection. No sign of the thin man in the brown coat, watching me.

I walked into my room, smiling at the photograph that was hanging on the wall. It was of Rose, Jack, the Doctor and I all grinning at the camera. That had been a good day. We had been on a planet which had three suns in the sky, and we spent most of the day walking along the beach, Jack trying to build the best sandcastle in existence, Rose helping him. That had been a really fun day, nothing to worry about, just four friends having a great day. I loved the running, but equally it was great just to see everything there was to see about the universe.

When I walked back into the console room, instantly I knew that there was something wrong. Jack was running around the console, banging it frantically, "Something the matter?" I asked him, walking up to the console, and then noticed that the extrapolator beeping wildly, "Did you get it to wo-" the TARDIS gave a sudden jarring shudder and I grasped the railing, cutting off my sentence, "What the hell did you do?!"

"I don't know!" he shouted back at me "Don't look at me, I didn't do anything to it, it just went completely crazy," the TARDIS gave another shudder and suddenly the ground underneath started to rumble, "Now that really doesn't sound good," he ran over to the screen, "The Rift's open,"

"The what!" I demanded, stumbling over to the screen, "You mean you can actually read this?" he gave me a look, "Not helping, sorry," he was quickly ripping out the wires attached to the extrapolator, "What happened to it?"

"I don't know, I plugged it into the TARDIS trying to use it's power and it's now it opened the Rift," he pulled the final wire out of the case, but it continued to beep, "No good," he looked over to me, I've disconnected it but it just keeps..." he pressed it rapidly, "Ahh, can't get it to shut off!" he looked over to me, "We're just a little bit stuck,"

"Only in bloody Cardiff," I ran my hand through my hair, "Ok, I'm going to check outside," I ran towards the doors opening it and stepping outside. Instantly I grasped onto the outside of the TARDIS as the ground shook violently again and I looked around me as cracks appeared in the ground, "Ok, it's bad, it's very, very bad. There's an earthquake happening out there," I informed Jack running back inside, "Can't we just smash it or something?"

"We don't know what it will do if we break it," now Jack was getting anxious, "I don't know what it could do, you don't know what it could do. It could do anything, make the city implode or get vaporised," he looked at me, suddenly completely calm, "We're stuck in the middle of Cardiff that is about to explode with all the power of the Rift,"

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**So we are nearly to the end of this story. I apologize if the updates might be a little sporadic next week in advance cause I'm heading off to uni and I need to start packing. If anyone has any advice about what to bring to uni, other than usual things, I'd be grateful, cause other than normal things, I'm hopeless.**

**So long and keep those smiley faces coming :)**

**:)**


	55. Boom Town: Part 5

**So here's the last chapter of Boom Town and I hope everyone likes it.**

**Thank you to all that reviewed. Ryn of Magic, grapejuice101, DragonRose4, sailormajinmoon, Tipper dehavilland and ClaraOswin2035, you all get lots of smiley faces. **

**sailormajinmon- I hadn't thought about an alarm clock, thank you for the tip.**

**ClaraOswin2035- Yes, I do intend to do the last two episodes, and upload them as soon as possible.**

**Update: I tried to upload this earlier but for some reason it was loaded but not available to see. Hence the later chapter. Either it's my computer or the website.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Boom Town: Part 5

"What the hell are you doing!?" I looked over to where the Doctor had just entered the TARDIS with Margaret. Thank God that he had arrived, seeing as neither Jack nor I knew what the hell to do. At least he might have some idea what exactly we could do to stop what was happening to this entire planet. And what was wrong with the extrapolator, which was still beeping at us from where it was lying, "The Rift is open, and time and space is ripping apart," he told us, "This whole city is just about to disappear from the map! Now what did you do?!"

"Nothing, it just went crazy!" Jack shouted back, "It's this extrapolator thing, we've disconnected it but it's still feeding off the engines, and using the TARDIS! It's not our fault," he hit the extrapolator again, "And it's pulling the Rift open while using the engines!" I looked towards the door, there was no sign of Rose anywhere and with there being an earthquake right on our very doorstep, I was worried about her, a lot. Her and Mickey, "This isn't going to blow up the whole city, Doctor, this is going to engulf the entire planet if we don't sort this one out as soon as possible,"

The door banged open and Rose ran in, panting with the effort of clearing running a very long way, "What is it?" she puffed at us, "There's an earthquake happening out there, a proper earthquake with cracks in the streets and everything," she stared up at the console, "What's happening?"

"Oh, just little me," there was an awful ripping and I turned to see Margaret clutch Rose by the throat. But her hand wasn't a normal hand, it was the large green and lethal talon that the Slitheen had when they weren't in their skin suits. I looked at the floor where the human arm was just lying there. Even in all the mayhem and panic, I had to note that it was rather disgusting. But focus. Rose was currently being choked to death by the apparently not reformed female Slitheen, "One move and she snaps like a promise," she grinned at the Doctor triumphantly, "I've had you bleating all night, poor baby, now shut it!" she looked over at Jack, "You Fly Boy, put the extrapolator at my feet," Jack looked at the Doctor who nodded, and he hurried to do as she said, "Thank you," she cooed, "Just as I had planned,"

"You knew this was going to happen?" I asked her, frowning, and staring at the grip that she had on Rose's throat. One tight squeeze and Rose's neck would be crushed, and that would be rather bad for Rose's lifespan. Very bad, I corrected myself. Extremely bad was an understatement, "I thought that you needed the nuclear power station to go into meltdown, like he said..." I pointed at Jack, "Then it'll blow up and open the Rift, like he said," I pointed at the Doctor, "So how come this happened when you needed that to happen in order to make it all work?"

Margaret grinned at me, and I swallowed heavily, "Failing that plan," she crowed, "If I were to be arrested, then anyone capable of tracking me down would have considerable technology of their own," she lifted Rose up a little with her claw, and I moved forward instinctively, only to be held back by the Doctor's hand. I knew what he was trying to say: one wrong move and my sister would choke to death, "And so therefore they would be captivated by the extrapolator," Margaret sneered at us, "Especially a magpie mind like yours, Doctor. So the extrapolator was programmed to go to Plan B, and lock onto the nearest alien power source, and open the Rift," she stared up at the TARDIS console, "And what a power source it found. I'm back on schedule, thanks to all of you,"

"That Rift is going to convulse!" Jack shouted at her, pointing out of the doors towards Cardiff, "You're going to destroy the whole planet if you don't stop the extrapolator right now!" the only trouble with that idea was that Jack had never met the Slitheen with us before, I didn't know about before, but the Slitheen that we had known in Downing Street, they weren't very accommodating to our pleas, even when the Doctor had offered them the choice whether to stop voluntarily or to be stopped forcibly by us. Looks like Margaret hadn't learnt from that.

"And with you with it!" she retorted gleefully, "All this time, I thought of so many ways that I would get revenge on you, Doctor, to avenge the deaths of my brothers, and now I can do it. You'll all be torn to shreds as this planet is annihilated, while I ride this board over the crest of the inferno, all the way to freedom!" she stepped onto the extrapolator and it hummed with energy, "Stand back, boys," she grinned, "Surf's up!"

And then suddenly white light bloomed out of the TARDIS console, bathing us all in soft white light, and I could hear this faint singing in the back of my mind, like a hole in my chest had been filled and I hadn't even noticed that it was empty before. The light from the TARDIS looked cold and swirled all around us, but it felt just that first early morning ray of sunshine on a winter's afternoon, reminding me that this was something so much older than me, and probably would be here even longer than I would be around. The quiet singing in my head reminded me of the travels that we had been on, the hug that the Doctor had given me to comfort me, the running that we did; the talking, laughing, living in the TARDIS that all of us, Jack, Rose, the Doctor and I, had done together. And all that we would do in the future. It was like seeing home for the very first time after being away for so long.

I looked over to the Doctor who was standing next to where the console had opened, bathing in the white light and smiling such a soft smile that made me think that he was feeling the same thing that I had done, although it probably reminded him of different things, "Of course, opening the Rift means that you're going to tear this ship apart," he told Margaret, "And this isn't any ship, it's the TARDIS. My TARDIS, the best ship in the universe,"

"What's that light?" Rose asked him, still clutching onto the arm that held her up, "Doctor? What that burning light?"

I turned to look at the console, "It's the Heart of the TARDIS," the Doctor explained to all of us, and I looked into it, seeing a faint swirling deep in the console. I couldn't help it but I wanted to stay like this forever, "This ship is alive, Margaret, you've opened its soul," I looked over to where the Slitheen was staring into the light just as I was doing, "Look at it, Margaret," he urged her, and I saw her move her lips slightly, but I couldn't hear her. I turned back to the console, feeling the light caress my face gently. I never wanted to leave, "Look inside, Blon Fel Fotch. Look at the light,"

Then Margaret looked up at us, "Thank you," she whispered so faintly that I only just caught what she said, "Thank you, all of you," and then the white light got so bright, that it felt like it would scorch the back of my eyeballs, but I couldn't look away. It was far too beautiful to look away.

And then all of a sudden it was over, and the Doctor was rushing around the console, "Don't look," he told us urgently, "Stay there, close your eyes!" well it was a little late for that warning, "Don't look at the light," I tore my eyes away from the console to where Margaret had been standing, but all that was left was the remains of her human skin suit, "Right, now shut it down!" the Doctor ordered, flipping levers, "Jack, Rose, come on, shut it all down!" I moved with the rest of them, helping him turn off everything, "Mary-Anne, the panel, shut it down," I moved to the open panel and closing it slightly regretfully, "Now all the switches to the left,"

The TARDIS managed to calm down, and all the lights turned on. I blinked rapidly, acclimatising myself to the harsh lights which were completely different to the light that had been under the console, "Nicely done if I'm allowed to say so myself," Jack nodded at all of us, "Everything back to normal, the TARDIS completely safe, and Cardiff can breath in relief as they get to live another day,"

I was still staring at the skin suit where Margaret had been, frowning at it. It was even more disgusting when it was the whole suit and not just the little arm that she had torn off to practically strangle Rose, "But what happened to Margaret?" I asked, looking around the floor, "She just vanished when that light got brighter. She can't just have disappeared like that," I placed a hand on the Doctor's arm, "You don't think that she might have...been vaporised? Burnt up? Like carrying out her own death sentence?"

The Doctor shook his head, "I don't think so," he disagreed, "I don't think she's dead," he walked over to the skin suit, crouching down and leaning forward, "She looked into the heart of the TARDIS, that light, and even I don't know how strong that is," I turned slightly towards the shut console, remembering the white blaze that had emerged from it, "And the ship is telepathic, like I told you, Rose," he gestured to my sister, who crouched down next to him, "It gets inside your head, translates alien languages for you," he looked thoughtful, "Maybe the raw energy can translate all sorts of thoughts," and then he reached into the suit, and pulled out something that made us all stare, "And here she is..."

"She-she's an egg?" Jack stuttered out, and I touched the brown leathery egg that the Doctor was holding in his hand. It wasn't very big, but it had tentacles sprouting out of the top, completely harmless, "That's Margaret...? That's...she's an egg,"

"Regressed to her childhood," the Doctor grinned at it, "She can start again, live her life from scratch. If we take her back home, and give her to a different family, tell them to bring her up properly. Then she might all right in the end, she can have a second choice to do it all over. We let one of them go," he admired the egg and I suddenly burst into laughter, shortly followed by the Captain and Rose, "She's an egg," he repeated.

"Oh my God, Mickey," Rose suddenly bolted from the TARDIS outside, and I leant against the TARDIS console, grinning at the sight of the egg in the Doctor's hands. I don't know why I ever tried to make it out that I knew what was going to happen. I didn't know why I even thought that I could ever think that something was predictable when it came to that madman with a box. I really didn't know why. But I did, and perhaps that was what kept me on my toes, the idea that there didn't have to be a rhyme or a reason for all of this. That living in the moment...well, I knew where I wanted to stay now.

"Right..." the Doctor balanced the egg on a stand, before flicking buttons and looking at me, "Am I going to do all this by myself?" I let him help me up, "Those levers there, keep them level," I did as he said, before looking over to where Rose had walked in through the door, looking rather despondant, "We're all powered up, so we can leave immediately," the Doctor called over to her, "Opening the Rift filled up us with energy, we can go. If that's all right?" Rose nodded slightly, "How's Mickey, do you want to find him because we can wait,"

"He's Ok," she answered him, "He's...he's gone, and there's no need to go look for him. He deserves better," she seemed slightly shellshocked at that. I moved over to her, hugging her tightly, and she held me tightly, as if she never wanted to let go, "I'm all right," she reassured me, "I'm all good, really good," she didn't look it.

The Doctor looked hesitant, but nodded eventually, "As you wish, off we go then," he rattled around the console, "As Margaret said: always moving on. Off we go to Raxacoricofallapatorius, and you don't often get to say that. All we'll do is pop her into the hatchery. Margaret the Slitheen can live her life all over again. A second chance,"

"That'll be nice," Rose murmured, but I think that I only heard her. She smiled sadly at me before drifting off down the corridor. I felt like punching Mickey just by the look on her face, "I'm just going to go and..." she gestured down the corridor and the Doctor nodded, "I'll just be a couple of minutes,"

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Our visit to Raxacoricofallapatorius wasn't very long, and soon we were back in the TARDIS. I was glad that Margaret had been turned into an egg rather than soup, as the Doctor had informed us of how that planet carried out their death penalty. It at least put my conscience at rest for the time being, letting me feel that I had actually done some good today, and it hadn't ended with anyone dying for what they had done, or were going to do to the planet. It was a good feeling that Margaret had the chance to live all over again. The Doctor at least clearly thought so as well, judging by the way he was humming around the place.

"You're pondering," he told me, and I was jolted from my thoughts as I looked over at him, "Pondering very deeply from the looks of things," I smiled at him, my mind half still back in thought mode back where the white light still lingered in my mind, "Care to share any thoughts with me? I am very good at listening," he stared at me, "You looked at it, didn't you? The light,"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," I apologised, and he sat down next to me on the seat, "It was just...so beautiful, and I couldn't help but look right at it," I turned to him, "You don't think that it's changed me in any way, because I'm not an egg...clearly. And you said, don't look at it," he scanned me with his screwdriver, "And the verdict is..."

"Human," he answered, and I breathed out in relief, "Hundred percent human, no egg-like qualities at all," he folded his arms, settling back against the chair, "Margaret turned back into an egg because she wanted a second chance, she wanted to be free," he explained to me, "Therefore, I think the TARDIS got inside her brain telepathically understood and turned back the clock for her. Hence why she is now an egg," he looked speculatively at me, placing a hand to his mouth, "When you looked at the light, what were you thinking about?"

I thought back, "That I never wanted to leave," I replied, "When I saw the light, it felt like..." I smiled, "Early morning, and all the times that we had here in the TARDIS, and all the times ahead of us, the adventures and the running that have happened and will not doubt happen in the future," he took my hand tightly, and I tilted my head at him, "That there is going to be so much more, and I don't want..." I brushed back a tear, "I don't want to ever leave,"

He placed his other hand on my cheek, "I will always going to keep you safe," he said to me, and I blinked at him, "No matter what, you know that," I nodded softly at him, "And we are going to have so many fantastic adventures in the future, and we are going to run as fast as possible, no one will be able to catch us," he folded me into an embrace, one that made me feel safe, "You and me, with Rose and Jack, all in the TARDIS, travelling through time and space. We're going to be so magnificent," I leant my head on his shoulder, "And absolutely fantastic," he look down at me, "Don't you think so?"

"Of course," I answered, smiling a little, although I could still feel that hole in me that had been filled when looking at the white light, "And who knows, maybe the TARDIS got inside my head and knows this. Forever..." I held onto his hand tightly, "I like the word: forever, you can do a lot with forever, and a lot in forever,"

"Nothing lasts forever," he reminded me,

"But we can pretend it does," I remarked, "Even just for one tiny little second, we can think that everything lasts forever. Forever and a day," I looked at our clasped hands, thinking about what Jack had said to me, "I'd like to spend forever and a day here...with you," I admitted to him honestly, "Running around forever. Not a bad life at all,"

"I wouldn't mind that either," he said, and I smiled widely at him, "So we have forever and a day to decide what to do, where to go, and whatever happens in the middle," he grinned at me, "Living in the moment, and never knowing what will happen next. Welcome to the TARDIS, Miss Mary-Anne Tyler,"

"And I wouldn't miss it for the world,"

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**So there it is and Bad Wolf is next, so watch out for that next chapter.**

**Love to hear from you about this chapter.**

**:)**


	56. Note

**Note**

**Please see previous chapter for the new chapter which is Boom Town: Part 5 that should have uploaded today but seems to have not been working properly so that it was properly updated.**

**Thank you and I'm sorry for the inconvience. It had been working earlier but computers...**

**PenSmith433**

**Date: 7/09/2012**


	57. Bad Wolf: Part 1

**So I've been away for a while, a week or more than a week. My sincere apologies, there's been a lot on. Buying pots and pans and other things that are needed for living away from home for the first time.**

**Putting it plainly and simply, I feel like when you're a little child and you pretend to cook with plastic food on a fake oven, except it's actually real and you're expected to actually cook something edible. But never mind me.**

**Thank you to M, Shaybo27, grapejuice101, fanfreak4ever, ClaraOswin2035, sailormajinmoon, and Ryn Of Magic who reviewed last chapter, even if it did go all wibbly and wrong. I appreciate you taking your time to write something about the chapter.**

**So we are into the final phases of Series One, which is kind of sad. I want to finish it, (and I will) but at the same time there's a feeling of closure for this part of the story. I liked Nine.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Bad Wolf: Part 1

When it matters, people come down to two distinct categories. The first are the people that watch as things go by, those that look by never see as life just passes them by, the people that never live in the moment and turn and just imagine what life could be like and allow time to slip away freely. The second category of people are those that can see what happens around them, the lives that are lived every day, and dive into what they are doing every single time they draw breath. The Doctor showed me that way of living as soon as I met him in the basement of the shop that I worked in. He showed me how life could always be like, to never stop running.

And I thought it would never, ever stop. But then time runs faster than we all thought it could run, and then time had dogged our footsteps ever since Rose and I stepped foot onto the TARDIS and seen how beautiful everything was, and suddenly...we weren't the people that let life pass by, we were those that lived it to the full. I thought we would last for that forever and a day, and not just the second that we could imagine it for. I never thought we would be standing here, unable to move, and knowing that it was all going to end right here, right now, and there was nothing that anyone could do to stop it, because there was nothing that we could do.

Perhaps I had always known that it would end here, right in the middle of where, I think, it all really began, when things had changed. I hadn't thought it would end, I never wanted it to, but let's be realistic. We all knew what we were going to face when we all boarded the TARDIS, practically signing the contract to always do what we thought we should do to help. Even if it cost us everything. I don't mind having to give that up to do what we had to do, but I do wish that the Doctor and I had just that little bit longer, just that forever and a day.

Because nothing would ever be the same again.

So let me start right at the very beginning...right at the heart of the

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I hissed loudly when I bolted upright, seemingly out of a very deep sleep. My head absolutely killed, like someone had decided to take a battering ram to my head, and had kept banging down as if to wake me up. I tried to get up, but almost fell over with the pain. What the hell had happened? Where was I? All I could see right in front of me was a glittery gold blur, and that wasn't helpful at all. Where was everyone else? Where was the Doctor, or Rose, or even Jack? And where the hell was I? Because even with my pained state of mind, I knew that I wasn't on the TARDIS.

"Are you all right?" someone's hand grasped my arm, helping me stand upwards, and I staggered a little, my head still really fuzzy, "Don't worry, that's just the transmat beam, it scrambles your head a lot, makes you feel really ill," the voice was male from what I could tell, "I'll get you some water," he led me over to a sofa, sitting me down. I blinked rapidly, the room coming into focus. We were in a kind of glitzy room, with a big red sofa. The male voice came back, and I looked at him, he didn't look any older than me, "Are you feeling all right now?"

"Err, yeah," I told him, and he handed me the water he was holding. I sipped it, swallowing it down and gradually my headache faded. I looked up at him, "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but where the hell am I? Because I was in the TARDIS and then I just woke up here, and I don't know where here is. So if you could tell me where I am then that would be brilliant,"

He frowned at me, and I looked at him carefully. He was average height with long black hair like dreadlocks, and was wearing a rather sparkly blue suit, "You don't know where you are?" I shook my head, "How could you not know where you are?" I shot him a look, "You're in the Gamestation, you're in one of the games," I was still confused, "You really don't know where you are, do you?"

"Well seeing as I don't even know who or what the Gamestation is, I would hazard a guess that I don't know where I am and I would rather like to know," I snapped, feeling like my headache was going to return. I sighed, placing my head in my hands, "I'm sorry, I really have no idea where I am, and I was travelling with these people, my sister, but then I just ended up here, and I don't know how, or why, and that's kind of scary. Ok, the Gamestation, it pretty much is what it says it is," the second part of his sentence slowly filtered in "Hold on, you said game. What game are we in then?"

"Strictly..." he answered, and I stared at him, "Strictly Come Dancing," Oh my God, this had to be a nightmare, there was no way that I was in the middle of Strictly Come Dancing. I absolutely hated that show, there was nothing worse than watching many people twirl around for a ridiculous amount of time and then get scored on how well they did. I was all for dancing, but not when I was going to criticised about how I did. Mum loved it though, "Can you remember anything about how you got here, the transmat beam plays with your head most of the time, and gives you amnesia,"

"No, I can't remember anything," I replied, shaking my head, "But I was travelling with some friends, three of them, including my sister, then it all goes a bit blank," I looked at him, "Did anyone else arrive? I mean if I landed here then they've got to be somewhere,"

"No one else arrived," he said, "Just you, it's Mary-Anne, isn't it? That's what it says on the scoreboard, but they're having a debate about you at the moment, because it's nearly the final week and you've just been transported in here without any warning. I'm John-Joe," he held out his hand to me, "John-Joe Jackson,"

"Right..." I shook it, "Mary-Anne, but please, call me Alice," I rubbed my eyes, "So you're saying I landed here in the last week of the competition, and no one knows anything about how I'm here, or why?" he nodded, "Oh brilliant, just what I need, and my head is still sore," I stood, proud that I didn't immediately fall flat on my face, "So is it only us two then?"

He shook his head, "Sally and Anna are in the bathroom getting ready and Roger is just getting changed," he said, "They're not pleased that you've arrived, each with less chance of winning, is probably the reason," he looked slightly hesitant, "I should warn you that you don't want to upset the judges at all, their decisions are law, so don't cause any trouble,"

"Oh brilliant," I muttered, "Just what I need, dramatic judges to brighten my day as well," I looked around the room, seeing that there were no windows or anything, "So we literally have to go out there and dance, get scores and come in?" he nodded, "What about dancing partners?"

"Don't be silly," he grinned up at me, "No one's played it like that in centuries," So not the twenty first century at least, slightly further forward than that, "Don't tell me you've seen Strictly where they have partners? That's the Classic series," I shrugged, tapping the walls.

"Is there a door out of here?" I asked him.

"Yes, but it's out in the ballroom. You can't get through there, it's a locked seal. We're lucky that we're not in Big Brother, they've had all theirs deadlocked when Big Brother Five Hundred and Four decided to walk out. They didn't enforce it for the other games,"

"Deadlocked," I tapped the walls, wanting to just smash them down. I looked in my bag, seeing the squareness gun that Jack had given me in Cardiff. I could get through just a normal door easily, "That's the only thing that can stop the sonic screwdriver...my friend. Glad I don't have that here," I explained to him, before smiling softly, "We travel together, all four of us. Completely crazy life, I don't know why I like it so much, but it's brilliant either way. Not going to stop," I looked at him, "What happens if I don't want to dance?"

"Then you get voted out automatically," he answered, and I shrugged. I didn't see anything wrong with that, "There are cameras all around," he pointed to a little ball with the red dot showing up above, "Haven't you ever watched anything before?" he asked me.

"Like I said...I've been travelling. Haven't had a lot of time to sit around watching the television, been running a little faster than you'd think," I replied, walking my fingers over the glass, "Me, my friends, my sister, all of us together," I laughed at that, "I don't even know what the date is,"

"It's twenty first of July, two hundred, one hundred," he said and I stared at him, "You're in the Game Station which is a Satellite, and here we are," the door suddenly burst open and a blonde haired woman, dressed in a very sparkly red dress walked in, "Sally, this is..."

"I don't care," she said, and I folded my arms. So much for a nice welcome, "We've got the results in ten minutes, I've been here all ten weeks, I've played by the rules, haven't caused any trouble or mess, not a single fault at all," she waved an impatient hand at me, "And then she comes dancing in like she's so special, ruining all the chances that we have," she glared at me, "I came in here to win this thing, not to have the rules be changed right at the very last second. I'm going to complain that she can't enter,"

"Lovely to meet you to," I retorted, "It's not like I actually want to be in here thank you very much," she scowled heavily at me, and I turned back to look at John-Joe, "So the year two hundred, one hundred, I was here ages ago, had a bit of trouble but everything was fine in the end," I looked at the large mirror that was hanging up, "Is this one way?" he nodded, "Can you get through?"

"Don't be stupid," Sally said as if I were an idiot, "It's specially molecularly bonded glass, where have you been?" I didn't answer her, just studied it carefully. The squareness gun erased whole chunks of walls at a time, even if it was molecularly bonded or whatever she said. I wasn't exploding through it, just scrubbing it out, and I'd replace it easily enough. Jack had showed me how to use it. If the door didn't work then maybe the mirror would, "Ohh, I'm going to see what's taking them so long," she bustled off.

"Well she was nice," I remarked, going back to the glass, "So what's behind here?" I inquired of John-Joe rapping the mirror.

"Just an observation pod," he dismissed, "Empty room unless one of the programmers have a bit of time off and want to see behind the scenes," he grinned at me, and I returned, "I have to ask, although I know that you're not supposed to talk about the outside world, but you have to be watching this station. Do people like me?" I frowned at him, "Because I know that some people get this far just because they don't get noticed although I have got nearly perfect scores in my last dances," I hesitated, not knowing what to say, "Am I popular with the crowd?"

"I really don't remember," I told him, "But..." I tried to find a word, "They think you're cute," I came up with something that I thought suit him, "Definitely, everyone thinks you're cute," he smiled slightly at that, "Tell you the truth, I don't generally watch a lot of television, most of it's just complete rubbish, like Big Brother, and the Weakest Link...X Factor. I'm glad I didn't end up there. God awful at singing," we both laughed slightly, "I mean we were in Kyoto..." the memories seemed to hit me like someone had punched me hard, "Hold on..."

"That's the transmat beam," he answered me, "Told you, it gives you short term amnesia, scrambles the head a little. So you were in Kyoto when the beam picked you up?"

"Yes," I smiled, "Because we had just been in Cardiff sorting out one of the Slitheen, very long story, that one," I thought back, "And then we went to Raxacoricofallaptorius, because we needed to drop Margaret off in the hatchery, live another life," he looked a little confused, "It's a very...long story," I paced around the room, "Then after that we were in Kyoto, Japan in 1336," I chuckled at that, "Now that was fun, we'd just escaped the Emperor and his guards, blame that on Jack," I thought back, "And we were on the TARDIS all together, all laughing, and then was this light...I thought that it was the TARDIS again, but this light was coming through the walls, and then I woke up here,"

"Yeah," John-Joe nodded, "That's the transmat beam, I was just at home, watching the television, there was a special edition of Stars in Their Eyes, and then I woke up here, and bundled into this suit..." he gestured down at him, "Don't usually wear this kind of thing, if I'm honest with you. Jeans and a t-shirt usually. But still, that's the Gamestation for you. They never give anyone any warning when it comes to this,"

I shook my head, looking at the glass, and then up at the camera, "No, I don't think that's it," I told him carefully, "When I met the Doctor in my time...oh such a long time ago. He told me that nothing could get through the doors of the TARDIS, nothing could be that strong, because the TARDIS isn't a normal ship. I mean, we were in the Time Vortex, how could a transmat beam get inside the TARDIS when we weren't really anywhere?" I moved to look at the camera, "And if I'm right, then all my friends are in these games as well, somewhere on the Gamestation, which means that something is going on that shouldn't be," I leant against the wall, "I mean when I was here in the year two hundred thousand, a hundred years ago, I was on Satellite Five,"

He snorted, "That's an old name," I was confused, and it clearly showed on my face, "Satellite Five? That is the Gamestation, it hasn't been called that for years, a hundred years actually," he leant back against the seats, "It's run by the Bad Wolf Corporation now,"

"I'm sorry, what?!"

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**Concerning this chapter, I was in two minds about it really. I didn't know whether I wanted to do it this way or to do it another way. And then I had to choose a tv show that Alice would land in because I didn't want her to go into a show that Rose, Jack or the Doctor went into. I chose Strictly Come Dancing, because I personally would hate going onto that show, and it seems similar to the other shows that were shown in the episodes being that it's only a ballroom and backstage, which limits the space that there is. Running around the jungle such as in I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, would prove too much trouble I think.**

**Well, I hoped you liked it, I hope to hear from all of you, and keept those smiley faces coming.**

**Over and out**

**:)**


	58. Bad Wolf: Part 2

**So finally I have managed to manage all of my work load, sort out uni life and get back on track with everything that is going on with this story. My apologies once again, I didn't actually realize just how much I had to actually do when it came to uni, and everything sort of kicked off. On the plus side, I am having huge amounts of fun, and huge amounts of reading to do so there we are. Like I said, I'm now on a proper schedule so will be uploading chapters regularly again.**

**Thank you to all those that reviewed the last chapter, thank you so much for all the feedback. As always it's always really wonderful to hear from everyone about the story, and I hope this chapter is good as well.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Bad Wolf: Part 2

"I have got to get out of here," I told John-Joe, walking around the room, trying to find a proper exit. I didn't want to try to use the squareness gun unless I absolutely had to, "Because if Bad Wolf is involved then I know that this is probably a trap or something. This is more than a coincidence, Rose worked this out ages ago, but I couldn't see the pattern, and I'm usually good at spotting connections. This is more than a game, and I have got to find the rest of my friends, but they could be anywhere...anywhere at all,"

"I swear half of what you say doesn't make sense," he said to me, honestly and I shrugged, seemingly helpless about the whole thing, "The Bad Wolf Corporation have been running these games for nearly a century, they keep the whole place running. It's just some little phrase that's always been around," he didn't look bothered about the whole thing, but then why would he, he hadn't been flying around the suns and the planets, across the whole of time and space and time and all the time the words Bad Wolf popped up somewhere, "Why does it matter?"

I stopped at the glass, "I don't know why it matters," I informed him, "I really, really don't, but I think that it's just a tiny bit too much of a coincidence that those words pop up everything and that they are the one thing that I'm absolutely terrified about," I turned around to look at him, "Because I've been travelling around for a while, seen Daleks, and Slitheen, and human trampolines, and gas mask zombies, but this...this is what really scares me. Bad Wolf and I don't think it's just a human phrase, it's like it's tattooed across the entire universe, calling us in,"

"Where have you heard it before?" he asked. I bit my bottom lip, "Look, who am I going to tell? We've got our results coming through in a couple of minutes and I might be the one that is chucked out so who am I going to tell? And you...you've turned up right when the game narrows down the competition, messing everything up, not making any sense at all. You're completely crazy, but you seem sweet enough, and you don't sound like you're lying. So you can tell me..."

I thought back, "The first time I heard the words Bad Wolf was with Gwyneth," I remembered, "She said there was the Big Bad Wolf, like it was something dangerous. And then...it was painted on the side of the TARDIS, and here at Satellite Five...there was the Bad Wolf TV. And Cardiff...Blaid Drwg, Bad Wolf," every single little strand was pulling itself together, into a picture that I couldn't see fully, "How could I have missed that...my sister, Rose got it in Cardiff, she said that, but I couldn't see it. She's so clever, picking the tiny details rather than the big picture. She's wonderful; she really, really is,"

"You're making it sound like destiny," He said, "But there's no such thing, is there?" he was taking this all very well, for being someone in a shiny blue suit. He was nice, in a safe kind of way, the type that you were reassured that he was normal, that you could live with him, grow up, have a family. The complete opposite to the Doctor. He was just rather cute.

"Maybe it is," I reasoned, sitting down on the sofa, "I don't know much about time and space because that's the Doctor's realm really. He'd know what do if he was here, but something seems to be determined to pull all of us apart. Probably to pick us off one at a time, if my record is anything to go by," I folded my arms, "And if Bad Wolf has brought us here then something has to have placed it everywhere we've gone. Which means that it's powerful, but what could be more powerful than the TARDIS?" I rubbed my forehead, annoyed, "Oh I don't know, everything doesn't make any sense now, and all I've got on me is my fog watch, my diary, and..." I trailed off not wanting to alert the camera to the squareness gun, "So how can we get out of here, anyway?"

"Well, the only way really is to win the game," he answered, "But you'd have to get through the judges and the presenters first and they turn rather nasty if you don't do as you say," he looked around, "Oh my God, I completely forgot. You're not dressed yet," I stared at him. I was pretty sure that I was dressed, "You have to dress up when we're standing for the results, I can't believe that I didn't tell you, we've got seconds,"

You had to be kidding me.

"You're joking," I said as he opened a door, and pulling me into it, "I have to say, I don't wear anything like this usually, not ever. I mean, I wear skirts, I like wearing skirts," he pushed a silver dress my way, "I'd rather go out wearing tracksuits than wear something like this," I told him honestly, "I've got to get out of here, and wearing this is just going to slow me down a lot,"

"Look, instant defiance of the rules, means you get immediately voted off," he retorted, "And I really don't think you want that, so just get dressed into that as soon as you can. You can go back to planning your escape route after that, but we've got to be going out there," he walked to the door, "I'll just be outside. Don't take too long otherwise we'll be late," he shut the door.

I turned to look at myself in the mirror, "This day is already going from bad to worse," I said to myself, before changing into the dress, "Have to say not bad," I said, "But still, I'd rather be in my normal clothes," I dropped my head into my hands, "What am I saying, this is absolutely insane," I looked around the room, seeing a camera in the corner, "Great, this is just what I need, cameras watching me change," I moved closer to it, "I don't know who you are, or why you've put me in this game, but if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to find my friends. They've got to be here somewhere, in these games, and believe me, my friends are geniuses, you really don't want to cross them on a day like today," I stared at the blinking light, "And Bad Wolf, whoever you are, I might be scared of you, but you haven't met my sister,"

I turned to look in the mirror again before jumping back again, seeing the man again. That strange man that only I could see. I moved forward slowly, focussing on him. Was it me or was he getting a little more...clearer to see. Like the light was better or he was just a little less fuzzy. I remembered the first time that I saw him right here on Satellite Five, and now once again here on the Gamestation a hundred years ago. His face was still a little blurry, but he was just looking at me like...I don't know...like he was waiting for something to happen. And yet as soon as I turned around, he was gone. In both the mirror and the room. If he ever was a real person in the first place.

I picked up my bag, walking out of the room, "You look good," John-Joe told me, "Come on, we have seconds," he grabbed my hand, as we moved into a corridor, "Hey," he nudged me gently, "No matter what happens, I'm glad that I met you," I smiled at him. He really was really quite cute.

"Yeah, it's good to meet you as well," I answered him, "And you know when I get out of here, you could come and help, meet my friends," he looked interested at that, "I didn't ask, but what do you do as a job, on Earth, because if we're on Satellite Five then we're in space. Do you have a family or anything?"

"I was training to be a paediatrician," he said. Typical, he was a Doctor, "I'm twenty five, just got a few more years until I'm fully qualified," he smiled sadly, "I've got two younger sisters, they're probably watching this at the moment. Family members get notified when we've gone into the games. My Mum..." he sighed heavily at that, "My Mum's probably worrying herself to death, she's scared that I'll get voted off," that was an odd thing to say, "Wish I could talk to her one last time before the results," he looked down at me, "What about your parents?"

"My Mum's still back at home," I sighed, "Haven't seen her for ages; don't know how she'll react really. Me and my sister sort of went travelling without telling her. She's fine with it and all, but I know she'd prefer it if we were on Earth. We don't exactly get on with each other, if you know what I mean. And my Dad..." I breathed out, "He saved the world, but he's dead now. Don't know what he'd think about all of this really,"

"Do me a favour," I nodded, "When you get out of here, call your Mum and tell her that you're all right, because you never know what's going to happen. Or how long you've got," I looked at him, "Please can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that," I promised him, "Even though I am probably in the middle of the most dangerous adventure ever," I looked around the hallway, "I suppose this is it...where we meet the judges then," I patted him on the shoulder, "Good luck, and all..." I supposed that if I had never met the Doctor then I would have liked to find a guy like John-Joe, sweet, uncomplicated and kind, "I'm sure you'll do rather well,"

We stepped out into the ballroom, "All we have to do is stand on the podium," John-Joe instructed me, and we made our way over to where Sally, another woman and another man who I assumed was Roger and Anna were standing, "And don't say anything remember. You don't want to upset the Tessbot," The what? I was just about to ask when the lights suddenly dimmed and the spotlights shone on each of our faces. John-Joe Jackson squeezed my hand slightly before standing in his spotlight. This was completely surreal, and just slightly freaky. Especially when I wasn't meant to be here.

Then something trundled out of the dark, and I stared at the face of a robot. Oh my God, the Tessbot. I had thought that John-Joe was joking when he said that. But it was actually...the Tessbot, Tess Daly in robot form. That familiar cold feeling in my stomach returned as I looked at the blonde robot, "In no particular order, the two dancers with the highest votes will be through to the semi-finals," the voice was slightly metallic yet certainly sounding like the voice of the presenter that had introduced the show all the way back in the twentieth century, "Sally..." the lights dimmed on the woman, "The next contestant to be through to the semi-finals is..." I looked at the other contestants who seemed to be shaking with nerves, "Roger..." the lights dimmed on him, "Whosever name I speak is going through to the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing. And the person is..." I held my breath slightly, "Anna. John-Joe, you have been voted off Strictly Come Dancing, you have a minute to say goodbye,"

John-Joe moved over to me, smiling sadly, "Guess I'll be off then," he said, "It was good knowing you, Alice, even though it was for such a short time,"

I frowned at him, "You're just going home though," I said to him, and he frowned, "Voted off, you leave the competition completely, go back home, write a book, sell millions, probably have your own album. It's not goodbye forever, is it?"

"It doesn't really work like that," he said, "Like I said, you're sweet, and it was good knowing you," he looked over at the three other contestants that were looking relieved and also apologetic at John-Joe, "Roger, Anna, Sally, it was good knowing you lot," they all nodded back sadly and I saw Anna wipe back a tear. John-Joe looked at me again, "When you get back to the changing rooms, get out as fast as you can," he instructed me, "Don't look back, just get out and find your friends. I hope you find what you're looking for. That Doctor sounds like a good man for you..."

"You could come with me," I told him, and he shook his head sadly, "Please..." I didn't like the way that he was behaving, like it was the end of the world. Like someone going to their death, "Come with me, and we can find out together,"

"John-Joe, you have been voted off Strictly Come Dancing," he moved away from me and stood into the light, "So we say goodbye to yet another dancer," the Tessbot said, "Goodbye..." I stared horrified as her mouth opened to show what looked like a round gun barrel. I turned back to John-Joe who looked back at me with a soft smile before golden light enveloped him, electrocuting him before obliterating him.

I leapt backwards with a horrified look on my face staring at what was now just a pile of sand, "What the hell was that thing?" I demanded, my voice coming out in a raspy croak, staring at where John-Joe had been standing, "What the hell?!"

"It's the disintegrator beam," the man who was no doubt Roger said as all the lights came back on, "Disintegrates all those that get off," I stared at him, "Where have you been living?"

"Apparently in a cave," I murmured back, staring at the dust. Bad Wolf and contestants that get killed off when they lose or get voted off. This was far more than a coincidence and I really needed to get out of here as soon as possible to find Rose, to find Jack, and to find the Doctor. Because if any one of them had gotten caught in the transmat beam while we had been in these games, then game over.

And I didn't want that to happen to any one of my friends.

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**Hope you like this chapter and drop me a line telling me about it.**

**Over and out.**

**:-)**


	59. Bad Wolf: Part 3

**I'm back, and with a new chapter. I've decided that Fridays will be the day in which I upload things because I have no lectures or seminars to attend and so I have a lot more time in which I am able to do upload this and fine-tune everything which works out for everyone. Hopefully in the holidays 'll b able to upload a bit quicker but for now this will have to do.**

**Thank you to everyone that decided to review on this chapter, as always I'm humbled by your praise. Just to clear things up, if you don't know what Strictly Come Dancing is, it's where people get dressed up and dance to a tune which then get scores to see who is higher. I don't watch it but it's rather popular in the UK.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine :-(**

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Bad Wolf: Part 3

"So let me get this straight," The remaining contestants and I were back in the back room away from the Tessbot, and no doubt what were robot judges. I had changed immediately back in my normal clothes. I was not escaping in a ball-gown, "This is the Year Two Hundred Thousand, One Hundred, clearly a world where you have all these game shows and then you kill the losing contestants?" I stared at all three of them, "I mean, have you gone completely insane? You're willing to die just so you can show your face on television? Is that it? How many games are there in the whole of the Gamestation? Do all of them die if they get voted off?"

They were all staring at me as if _I _was the one that was completely insane, "What are you blabbering on about?" Sally demanded of me, "Taking about whether we're willing to die to be on television? You don't get a choice when you get selection," she saw the confusion on my face, "How stupid are you?" she shook her head, "It's an automatic process, and everyone on Earth is a candidate to be a part of the games. The transmat beam that brings you here just picks you out at random, we don't apply or anything," Right this was getting more and more horrific as she went along, "I mean it's really helped with curving the surplus population, there's too many people on Earth these days,"

"Oh, because killing people in a mockery of a game show is a wonderful way to help solve the problem of a surplus population," I answered her sarcastically, "And when you get in these games, you don't think that maybe not stepping into the disintegrator beam might just be a very good idea?" they all stared blankly at me, as if what I was saying to them was a completely foreign concept, "This is the Year Two Hundred Thousand, One Hundred, and last time I was here, a friend told me that this was supposed to be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire. I don't think that this is what he meant,"

"Where have you been living?" Anna shook her head at me, "The Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire ended decades ago, it's only the Earth now, and the Gamestation," That didn't reassure me at all this, "This system has been in place for ages, no one has protested at it, aside from the usual activists that babble on like they always do," I really couldn't get my head around this. John-Joe was dead and they were acting like it was nothing to be worried about. What kind of screwed up world was down below us that they would willing kill people?

I rubbed my eyes tiredly, "I have got to get out of here," I mumbled to myself, before clearing my throat, turning to the three on the sofa, "All right, we're in Strictly Come Dancing, and this satellite is absolutely massive. Tell me, how many other games are shown here, and which ones use the transmat beam to pull people into them? I've got to find my friends,"

"You can't get out of the games," Sally said, "You have to just get through them and whoever is the winner get to live, it's the rules," Well wasn't she the most wonderful happy ray of sunshine in the room right now. She caught my pointed look, and threw up her hands, "Look, I don't know. They could have been pulled into any one of the games they have here, Big Brother, Stars in Their Eyes, Bear With Me. There are multiple floors of each games. I mean Big Brother has sixty Houses running all at once," I gaped at her, "I know, they've really downgraded the show, budgets"

"Not that, you idiot," I retorted, running my hands through my hair, "This is completely..." I didn't know the words for what I was feeling, "Last time I was here I remember that there are five hundred floors of Satellite Five, and if every door has a game behind it..." I trailed off. How many people died every day? Thousands? Tens of thousands? I don't think I had been quite as appreciative of the twenty first century than I was at the moment. But I had to focus, I needed to clear my head if I wanted to get out of here. I still had the squareness gun, "It's time I got out of here,"

"We're telling you," Roger snapped exasperated with me, "There isn't any way out of here. You need to be a technician or a programmer to have the codes for the doors which are on the other side of the ballroom. It might not be deadlock, but it's impossible to get through. Hundred billion combinations and you need the one that is activated for twenty seconds,"

"That's not a problem for me," I assured him, "I just need to have enough time to get through it without anyone arresting me or whatever barbaric system you have for people that refuse to go along with their sick little games," I sat down on a stool, staring at the three of them, "I'm sorry, because I don't mean to be rude, but surely you've got family down on Earth, that you've got friends and things. Don't you worry that they might get chosen in this?"

"Of course we do," Anna insisted, "Don't you think that we worry about that every day? That one of our loved ones will be chosen in the transmat beam and end up on these games?" she rubbed her eyes, that looked rather red, "My mother was chosen for Stars in Their Eyes and she got blinded because she refused to sing. We're terrified, but we can't do anything to protest to the authorities. We can't do anything!"

I clasped my hands together, "A really good friend of mine taught me that there is always a choice in what you do," I told her, "You can sit on the sofa watching Big Brother and Strictly Come bloody Dancing for the rest of your life, or you can do something about it. Say no, or have they managed to breed that out of you as well? Free will?" she didn't answer, and there was a sudden beeping in the room, "Hold on..." I looked around, "That's my phone," I patted myself down, silently berating myself, why didn't I think of this earlier? I pulled it out, and answered it, "Doctor!"

"Mary-Anne!" I grinned at the Doctor's voice. I was so happy to know that he hadn't been disintegrated into atoms, "I am so glad that I've managed to get through to you. The transmission is very dodgy, like something was pushing us out. I've boosted it a little with the sonic, but for how long I don't know. I was worried about the..."

"Disintegrator beam," I finished for him, "Yes, I know. I've seen it happen," the smile dropped of my face at the reminder of the death of John-Joe, "I'm currently in Strictly Come Dancing, you get blasted into dust if you get voted off. I'm just trying to get out of here. Jack gave me his squareness gun, and he showed me how to use it. What do you have?"

"I've got my screwdriver, but it's not going to be much use, I'm in Big Brother of all places," I winced at that, remembering the deadlock seals, "But I have an idea how to get out of here in one piece," now I really didn't like the sound of that, "It will be almost completely safe. But I don't know where Rose or Jack are, they could be anywhere in this entire Gamestation,"

"Doctor, there's something you need to know about the Gamestation," I said urgently, "It's not a coincidence that we're here..." there was a crackle on the other end, "Doctor...this is important!" the Doctor was speaking but I couldn't hear him, "It's Bad Wolf!" I said urgently, but the only answer was the dial tone. I stared at my phone, "It's Bad Wolf," Great, for a phone that was supposed to work in the whole of the universe in any time possible, it sure wasn't living up to its reputation. But I knew one thing, the Doctor was getting out of here. And so was I if I had anything to do with it.

"Who was that?" Sally interrupted my thoughts.

I turned back to look at her, "Very good friend of mine, someone who can and will stop this at the first chance that he gets," I informed her coldly, "Someone who will find out what is happening here, why we're here and why history is like this again," I looked to the door leading to the ballroom, "What would they be doing out in the ballroom right now?"

"Deactivating the judges ready for the next show," Anna said, wiping her eyes a little, "We've got three days until they decide to put us on air for the semi finals, so the technicians would be just testing to see if the Tessbot and the judges are working all right," I nodded at that, moving towards the door, "Where are you going?"

"I told you, I'm getting out of here," I pointed to the door leading to the ballroom, "Because if the Doctor's getting out then he's going to need help. I've been with him for a long time now, and I'm not going to hesitate to do that for anything," I frowned at them, "Which floor is Big Brother on?"

"139," Anna said, and I almost laughed sarcastically. Oh course it would be that floor. This whole day had been screwed around with enough for the floor not to be the one where we met Cathica a hundred years ago. Bad Wolf was really having fun playing around with our lives in that way.

I turned to the door before hesitating and looking back, "Come with me," Sally immediately scoffed looking away, Roger didn't react to my words and Anna shook her head, "You can't be serious in staying here, you've got a thirty three percent chance of winning this game," I insisted, "Please help me,"

"I'm sorry," Anna said and I sighed, "It's..."

"Against the rules," I muttered, "So I've been told. But this is your life we're talking about, please come with me," none of them moved and I knew that I was talking to a brick wall which wasn't bothering to answer me in any way, "As you wish, I hope that we get this solved before any one of you dies," I pulled open the door, and walked down the corridor towards the ballroom.

I slowly pulled out the squareness gun, and opened the door a tiny crack so I could see out to what they were doing out there. Right, I could see the door that would get me out of here, and I could also see the Tessbot and three normal people, that were either repairing or disabling the robot, which I just had to get past. Because it apparently wasn't already difficult enough already for me. So I had to get past three people and several cameras without anyone noticing me, completely delete part of a door and replace, and to stay alive throughout all of this. I felt like James bloody Bond.

I gritted my teeth, breathing in deeply. If James Bond could shoot a ridiculous number of people, rescue the damsel in distress, and get out of a building which was due to blow up in under a minute then I could get through a damn door unscathed. Then again, James Bond never had to face the judges of Strictly Come Dancing, and the Tessbot. If he had then he would probably resign from his day job. I closed the door quietly, pressing my back against the wall. The run to the door probably took about twenty...thirty seconds. I could feel butterflies swarming in my stomach. I couldn't remember the last time that I was this nervous. It was truly terrifying.

I mentally counted to three before, opening the door, and running across the ballroom floor, "Stop her!" shouted someone but I didn't hesitate while sprinting across the floor. I wouldn't have been able to do it with that dress that I had to wear for the results. I honestly believed that I hadn't ever run faster in my entire life. I hit the door, aiming the gun at the lock and pressing the button.

It didn't work.

Nothing lit up on the gun, no blue light shone out of it, and there were armed guards walking towards me. I hit the gun frantically, "Come on, come on," I hissed at it, "Work!" I had charged it up just recently and now it was choosing to play up now?! "Come on...I don't want to die here. Not like this," I hit it again and suddenly the gun whirred on, light shining at me. Finally. I aimed it at the door, pressing the trigger and a large chunk was removed showing the outside.

I quickly hopped through and twisted the dial of the digital rewind on the gun, "Ma'am," I looked up at the soldier who spoke at me. They were all aiming their guns at me, "Put down the weapon, ma'am and step back inside the door. These bullets are ones that only impact against organic matter, we will shoot you," I tilted my head, looking at him carefully, "Put down your weapon or we will fire, ma'am,"

My only answer was to raise the gun and squeeze the trigger. The door shimmered back and I found a piece of metal to shove through the keypad by the side of the door. Locking it, at least for a while, "Can't believe that actually worked," I muttered to myself, chuckled with relief, "Oh..." I leant on my knees, allowing myself to sit on the floor and catch my breath, "I am not doing that again in a hurry,"

I sat there for a few moments, before climbing to my feet. I had gotten out but I didn't know whether my sister had, and I needed to find Rose as fast as possible. And the Doctor, and Jack. Although concerning the fifty first century man, he probably had blasted his way through the nearest door, not that I ever would tell him that. Looking around the floor, I felt a shiver down my spine when I saw the words _'Bad Wolf Corporation'_ high above me. I didn't like it being there, and this was all wrong, every piece of it was so, so wrong. I didn't want to know what Bad Wolf meant because I had an idea as soon as I had learnt that it was here on this space station.

I angrily walked over to where I remembered the lift was from when we were on Satellite Five, and punched the button next to it. I was on Floor 285, and the Doctor was on Floor 139. He would be the first port of call and probably had at least one answer for my questions. I walked into the lift as it opened, pressing the numbers into the machine, and I stared at the sign as the doors closed, and the lift started to descend downwards. I watched the numbers click rapidly down, tapping the squareness gun against my leg in agitation. My floor had been pretty empty but when the doors opened, would there be a whole army aiming their guns at me? Or would there be no one again?

The doors of the lift finally clicked open and I stared out onto Floor 139. Looked the same as last time I was here, except dark and with not so many people. That was good, that was...very good. I moved out into the space, "Doctor?" I called out hesitantly, not hearing the slightest footstep on the ground, nor the whir of a sonic screwdriver, "Doctor?" I moved further onto the floor, still not hearing an answer. Where on Earth was he? "Doctor?!"

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**Ohh, everything has started to happen and we can bring in the other players in this shadowy game that is happening. And I am determined to get this Series done in time for the Christmas Special. Did everyone see the trailer? Scary snowmen made out of snow and Richard E. Grant. Well, my Christmas is sorted.**

**Until next time, friends, and hopefully drop a line for me :-)**

**Cheerio. **

**:)**


	60. Bad Wolf: Part 4

**It's Friday again :-) and I'm back again with another chapter. My apologies that it's a little late in the day/night depending on where you live, but it's about 2am in Britain. Hope that everyone's had a good week either way, and nce again, thank you for all your reviews on this story. We're definitely nearing the end of this series. **

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Bad Wolf: Part 4

"Mary-Anne?" I whirled around, aiming my squareness gun at the Doctor who stared at me, "What are you doing with that?" I looked at the gun before pocketing it quickly, slightly embarrassed for having nearly vanishing the Doctor's head. That certainly wouldn't have solved any of our problems, maybe I should keep it tucked away out of sight and to be used only in emergencies. Would certainly avoid a lot of very awkward conversations, such as the one right in front of me, "That's Jack's squareness gun, isn't it?" he asked me.

I grinned slightly, "Yeah," I answered him, "He gave it to me when we were in Cardiff, and it's a good thing he did. Would have ended with my permeant incapacitation from the Tessbot. These games aren't exactly usually user friendly. So shoot me, I used the gun. I owe Jack my life, there were soldiers that had proper guns," he looked slightly put out by that comment, and I sighed, moving closer to him, "You've definitely saved my life more times," he grinned, and I hugged him tightly, "I was so worried that you would have been caught in the disintegration beam. How did you get out of there?"

"Well..." he looked slightly shifty at that, and I noticed another girl with us. I hadn't seen her there, and anyway who the hell was she? "I broke a camera which gave me a forcible eviction," I folded my arms at that, not feeling terribly pleased by that, "The disintegrator beam refused to kill me," I stared at that, not knowing what to say, "Got out the other end, less security, probably the same as what was in your game. I'm fine," he gestured to the girl that was with us, "This is Lynda with a Y. She came out with me as well. We're both alive,"

"Well that was bloody lucky, wasn't it?" I retorted, before swatting his arm, "I mean what if it had killed you? You would disintegrated into a thousand tiny particles of dust, and there would be nothing that we could do to get you back. Don't ever worry me like that again, please. I prefer you in one piece," he nodded, and I turned around to look at the darkened floor, "And we're on Satellite bloody Five as well, not exactly what I call a pleasant trip down memory lane, is it? With robots dealing in death, you stuck in Big Brother, me in Strictly Come Dancing, and Rose and Jack in a game in one of over five hundred floors," I looked at Lynda, "Nice to meet you, Lynda. I'm Alice," she only nodded.

The Doctor however folded his arms, looking at me amused, "You were in Strictly Come Dancing?" I straightened up at that, not meeting his eyes, "Did you have to get dressed up?" now I did scowl darkly at him, and he merely raised his hands in defeat, "Although I have to ask, didn't you get anyone else out of your game?"

My shoulders slumped, "There was one bloke, John-Joe Jackson," I told him, "He helped me learn about this place, what happens here, what happens to the contestants when they get voted out. He was really cute, really nice guy," I rubbed my arms, "But he got voted off and disintegrated, and I shouldn't care because I knew him all of about half an hour but I do, and now he's dead," the Doctor drew me into another hug, and I rested my chin on his shoulder before letting out a long breath and drawing back, "And the other three, they didn't want to get out. Because it was 'against the rules'," I made quotation marks in the air, "Idiots, they'd rather protect their rules than save themselves, but I tried and none of them wanted to come with me so I can say that I gave them a choice,"

"You couldn't have done any more," he replied, and I merely shrugged at him, "You gave them the choice to save themselves, and they didn't take it. What were you going to do? Physically force them out of the door?" he placed his hands on my shoulder, "And I'm sorry about your friend," I merely nodded, "But first we need to find out who's controlling this satellite now. Who's in charge of this space station now? We've been gone for a hundred years, and someone's taken over,"

"Doctor..." I hesitated, "It's not that simple, I thought you would have found this out ages ago," he frowned and I turned to look at Lynda, "Is there any lights or anything?" she gestured over to a panel and I ran over to it, before looking at the Doctor, "It's not a coincidence that we're here," I pulled the lever down and the lights lit up to show the massive sign showing Bad Wolf, "You see?" I asked him, "Bad Wolf, I didn't know, I really didn't...know. Rose saw it ages ago,"

"Bad Wolf brought us here?" he asked and I shrugged, not knowing the answer to his question, "You're right, this is no coincidence. We should find Rose and the Captain and go as fast as we can. Solve this as fast as possible," I nodded at that, "Come on, observation deck?"

I followed the Doctor towards the familiar grate where we came last time, "So...Lynda with a Y," I looked at the other girl, studying her carefully. Blonde, wearing a tracksuit, and pigtails, "You were in Big Brother with the Doctor?" she nodded, "So you're from the world below? Earth in the year two hundred, one hundred. So how come they decided to start creating games that killed the contestants? That you watch?"

"Mary-Anne..." I folded my arms at the Doctor's voice before following him without saying anything more. He buzzed at the grate and shoved it aside, "Exactly the same layout as Satellite Five, other than the games instead of the newsrooms, there seems to be nothing that has changed. Not even the decor,"

I climbed through the grate, up onto the deck eagerly, remembering the last time that I was here, and see the entire world covered in cities and technology. However I stopped when I saw the Earth now, not too sure on what I was meant to be seeing, "Oh my God," I murmured, seeing the dirty orb far down below us, "What the hell happened to it?" I moved towards the glass, "But that can't be the Earth..." The Earth looked filthy, like that one lone sock that keeps going around in the washing machine and comes out looking disgustingly grey, "But it's polluted,"

"Brilliant, isn't it?" I turned to stare at Lynda, "I've never seen it for real, you know, not from orbit. Planet Earth," she sounded thrilled to be seeing the Earth below. I looked at the Doctor staring at the planet in silent horror, "It's always looked like that, ever since I was born," she added cheerfully, "See there?" she pointed over a dark grey swirl, "The Great Atlantic Smog Storm, that's been going for twenty years. We get newsflashes telling us when it's safe to breathe outside,"

"But the Earth shouldn't look like that," I protested, "It doesn't look like that. When did it start to look like that?" I walked towards the glass, staring far down below us, "The Earth's supposed to look like a green and blue marble, clean...not this grey..." I bit my lip, "What happened to it?"

The Doctor sighed, "So the whole population just sits there?" he asked Lynda, "Half the world too fat and half the world too thin, and you lot just watch television," he stared at the ceiling, "And ten thousand channels all beam out of here. The human race," he folded his arms disgusted, "Once again mindless sheep, being fed a diet of...Mind you, have they still got that programme where three people have to live with a bear?" he asked Lynda.

"Oh, Bear with Me," she answered him, "I love that one,"

The Doctor grinned, "And me, and the celebrity edition where the bear gets into the bath..." I cleared my throat, breaking both of the out of their little detour which really didn't matter, I thought, "But it's all gone wrong. I mean history's gone wrong again. This should be the Fourth Great and Bountiful Human Empire, I don't understand. When we were here last time we put things right, sorted everything that was going on,"

"No but that's where it first went wrong," Lynda corrected and I raised an eyebrow at her, "A hundred years ago, like you said all the news channels, they all shut down overnight. There was nothing left in their place, no information. The whole planet just froze," dread rose once again in my gut, "The government, the economy, they collapsed, that was the start of it," she looked at the planet again, "One hundred years of hell,"

"Oh my..." the Doctor moved forward, looking out at the sick planet, "But that was us, we did that," he clasped my hand and I squeezed it tightly, "I made this world," he turned around going to the interface, "Which means that we have to solve this once again before everything gets out of control," he started buzzing it, "And that starts by finding Rose and the Captain," he looked at me, "Was there anything else that you found out while in the games, Mary-Anne, anything important at all?" I thought back to the man in the mirror, but that was ridiculous, "Anything at all?"

"Well..." I paused, "Only that somehow the transmat picked people out at random across the whole of the world, and that it managed to get into the TARDIS somehow," I placed my hands to my forehead, "I thought you said that nothing could get through into the TARDIS," he didn't answer me, "So we're on a space station a hundred years into the future from the last time we were here, people are dying left, right and centre in game shows and Rose is right in the middle of it? That's getting to be quite a long list, Doctor,"

"We are going to get Rose out of there," he promised me, "We are going to rescue her and Jack, and we are going to sort out this entire mess and put history back on the right track, yet again," he buzzed the sonic again against the screen, "We just need to find out where they are. Both Rose and Jack,"

"Someone say my name?" I turned to see Jack on the observation deck, holding a huge gun, "Hello handsome, good to see you," I let out a sigh of relief, going to hug him tightly, "This is a nice hello, you should do it more often," I swatted him lightly, "Any sign of Rose?" I shook my head, "I've tried to track her but she must be still inside the games, and all the rooms are shielded," I ran my hands through my hair, feeling panicked, "How exactly did you get out of yours?" he asked me.

I held up the squareness gun, "Squareness gun," I told him, "Works wonders on the doors here which aren't deadlocked. I managed to avoid the soldiers shooting at me to get the door open. Stroke of luck really that I landed in a game that did that otherwise I'd be..." I hesitated, "Well not talking to you," I pocketed the gun, "So thank you for giving the gun to me, I'd be dead without it,"

He nodded, before handing over his Vortex Manipulator to the Doctor, "Here you go, patch this in to the computer. It's programmed to find Rose," the Doctor swiftly took it from him, "But we have to hurry up, these games don't have a particularly happy ending,"

"Don't you think we don't know that?!" the Doctor snapped at him, before trying to tap the Vortex Manipulator into the computer, "Mary-Anne, come and help me with this," I rushed over to where he was standing, holding the wires that he was holding, "We will find her," he said to me.

I bit my bottom lip anxiously, "Never thought that I'd be the one to rescue her," I replied to him, "I mean I'd do it in a heartbeat, of course I would. If she was in danger then I'd be the first person running off to get her, no matter what happened to me. But she's always been the one that usually saves me, you know? She's my big sister, and she...she will always try to save me, not the other way around. Says that it's her job," I looked at the two wires that I was holding, "I'm scared to death that something might happen to her, but she's my sister, so I'll always go to save her. Because I'd never forgive myself if I didn't,"

"I understand," he said softly, before looking over to Jack, "Do you mind not flirting?" Jack turned around with a mock outraged look on his face, "Don't..." he warned, "Saying hello for you is flirting," he suddenly thumped the computer violently, and I jumped back, "It's not compatible, the stupid system doesn't make sense," he ripped the back off, and I dropped the wires that I was holding, "It's weird, this place should be just a basic broadcaster, but the systems are twice as complicated. What for?" he was getting frustrated, "It's more than just television, this station's transmitting something else,"

"Like Bad Wolf?" I asked,

"I don't know," he admitted, "But this Bad Wolf thing, whatever it is, it's all tied up with me. Someone's been manipulating my whole life, like it's some sort of trap," That wasn't very pleasant to hear at all but there was something nagging away at me, about Bad Wolf that made me feel very, very cold. Like it was a trap but to a nasty ending. I looked back at the Doctor, "And Rose is stuck inside it!" the computer beep and we all crowded around the screen, "Found her! Floor 407,"

"Oh my god!" Lynda shrieked, covering her mouth, and I stared at her, scared out of my mind, "She's with the Anne droid, you've got to get her out of there!" I didn't wait for her to finish speaking, just started running towards the elevator. I punched the button quickly willing the lift to get a move on. The others quickly came up behind me and we all ran into the lift. The Doctor typed in the numbers and we rolled up the floors quickly but not fast enough to satisfy my nervous butterflies.

We burst out onto Floor 407, "Door Six," the Doctor informed us running over to a metal door. I took out the squareness gun aiming it at the door, but the metal refused to give way, "These doors are higher protected, you won't scratch the surface, believe me," I sighed, lowering it, "I can get through here," he buzzed the imprint of the hand on the door, and I bounced on my heels as I waited for him to crack through it, "Come on, come on," he hissed, hitting the wall next to it, "Got it!" I pulled the door open as fast as I could, running through into the dark room, "Stop this game!" the Doctor stormed in after me, "I order you to stop this game!"

"Rose!" I shouted, seeing my sister on the podium, already moving towards us, "Rose!"

"Look out for the Anne Droid!" she ran towards us, "It's armed!" I looked to where a robot was standing with red shining hair. Oh this day was definitely getting worse, Anne Robinson as a metal death machine, "Alice!" I looked at Rose who had her hand outstretched and as I made to take it she was suddenly vaporised into dust in my hands.

I stared at my empty hands where Rose had literally just been, the sound around me dying to nothing but white noise around me. She was gone...my sister was gone. That brave wonderful blonde headed woman who was my oldest friend, protector, sister was now blown into atoms, scattered across the floor by a bloody robot. It wasn't true, I wouldn't let it be...the Doctor took my hands but I didn't look up at him, and when I finally did, he had a similar expression on his face as well. That someone he cared about had been ripped apart for no reason whatsoever.

I didn't feel it when a soldier pulled me away from him, or felt it when a gun was pressed to my head, a voice shouting orders in my ear. I didn't feel how handcuffs were placed on me or dragged out of the room with the rest of my friends and Lynda. All that mattered was that Rose, my sister was gone, blown away.

And that made me more terrified than ever of the Bad Wolf, but with that terror, it also brought a resolve that whatever the Bad Wolf was, however much it scared it me to death. If I was going to die here as well as my sister, then I would die bringing it down as well.

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**So the penultimate chapter for Bad Wolf, what does everyone think? And of course after the next chapter we'll be entering into the final story of the Parting of the Ways where I hope everyone will like the ending...but you'll have to guess what I've got planned.**

**See you soon **

**:)**

**P.S. Nearly 300 reviews, thank you so much again to all of you that have contributed to that. Never expected it!**


	61. Bad Wolf: Part 5

**Sorry, I was a week and a bit late on this chapter. Crazy hectic end of a semester with and essay due in two days before I thought it was supposed to be but everything is good, and I'm now back at home in my room that has now been turned into an office, with most of my stuff in an attic...Thanks Mum.**

**But here I am with the last chapter of Bad Wolf and because it's Christmas, I'll be updating a lot more frequently, because a) it's Christmas, and b) I have no work over Christmas and I want to start posting the next story up in this series before the New Year arrives with it's lots of distractions.**

**Thank so much, as usual for all the reviews. AND WE'VE HIT 300 REVIEWS. Which I am very very happy about. And I am very very thankful to everyone that reviewed, and thank you all. This really would be nothing without you.**

**And with further ado.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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Bad Wolf: Part 5

We were escorted to the holding cells where the soldiers proceeded to question us on why we were here, why we had interrupted the games, how had we gotten out of the games. None of us answered them, allowing them to take us wherever they deemed to put us. I was still numb from witnessing Rose's death, wanting this to all be over so that we could go and find the people that had run the games that had tried to kill all of us with their stupid disintegrator beam. Who had killed Rose? I let them take my bag, my phone, the diary, the squareness gun. They only didn't take the fog watch from where it was hidden inside a pocket of mine.

They took pictures as well. I had gotten the usual criminal photographs when I had been arrested back on Earth in the twenty first century and the format hadn't changed at all. One in front, one to the left, one to the right. Everyone else had to do it as well, the Doctor, Jack, even Lynda, although she was the only one that would say anything to the soldiers. Probably that compulsion for all the inhabitants of the Year Two Hundred, One Hundred to conform to the rules. I was really getting tired of this time period and all I wanted to do was to get moving. To do something would take my mind off Rose, and that was all I wanted to do.

We were all sitting against the wall when the soldier in charge announced our sentence, "You will be taken from this place to the Lunar Penal Colony, there to be held without trial," he told us. This place was more like a death camp than anything else. "You may not appeal against this sentence," he added. Wonderful that there were human rights in this place as well, I had started to be worried about the state of the place, "Is that understood?" he asked us and received no answer from any of us. He was slowly becoming my least favourite person that I had met.

He turned away from us, heading towards the door and unlocked it, "Let's do this," the Doctor told Jack and the other man quickly punched the soldier out, before kicking the other man in the throat. I walked after him, picking up my possessions, my phone, my diary, the squareness gun, and threw the sonic screwdriver that they had confiscated over to the Doctor who caught it easily. Jack quickly finished off the rest of the guards, picking up the guns that they had left behind, "Into the lift everyone," he said and we all piled in, "Floor 500," he tapped in the number, "Now we can find out what's really going on here,"

"You don't think that they'll have guns up there?" Jack asked and the Doctor shrugged, "I suppose there are four of us all armed, and it isn't like there is going to be any back up seeing as we knocked them all out downstairs," I watched as the numbers scrolled higher and higher on the counter as the lift travelled up and finally the doors opened onto the floor. I stared in front of me, seeing a woman seemingly strung up, wires going into her and yet speaking. It looked more odd than seeing Cathica open the door in her head, a hundred years ago, "All right!" Jack charged forward, "Move away from the desks!" the staff hurried to do what he said, "Nobody try anything clever, everyone stands to the sides and stay there,"

I stuck to the Doctor as he walked up to the woman strung up. I could hear her whisper what seemed like numbers but I didn't really care about that. I just wanted answers and she was going to give them to me, "Who's in charge of this place?" the Doctor demanded of her, but she didn't answer him, just stared into space, "This Satellite's more than just a gamestation," still she wasn't listening, and he brandished the gun at her, "Who killed Rose Tyler?"

I moved forward, annoyed as she stubbornly ignored us, "I want to know who killed my sister!" I told her harshly, and she carried on speaking numbers, "I want an answer, what happened to my sister? Who killed her and why?"

"She can't answer," both of us turned around to look at the man who instantly put his hands up when the Doctor aimed his gun at him, "Please don't shoot me!" he gabbled and the Doctor rolled his eyes before throwing it to him.

"Oh, don't be so thick. As if I was ever going to shoot," he said sarcastically, "Captain," he looked over to Jack, "There are more guards on their way, I want you to seal all the exits to this floor, and make sure that none of them get onto this floor," Jack saluted and we turned back to the man who had spoken, "You, what were you saying?" the man hesitated, looking at the large gun in his hands, "Yes, you've got my gun, so shoot me. Why can't she answer?"

"She's...err," he looked at the gun, "I'm sorry, but can I put this down?" the Doctor rolled his eyes, nodding before waving his hand in order for the man to continue talking, "Thank you," he cleared his throat, "Sorry, the Controller is linked to the transmissions. The entire output goes through her head. She doesn't recognise either of your existences because you're not a member of staff. She's been installed in here since she was five years old; this is the only life she's ever known,"

"So let me get this straight," I moved forward to look at him, "In the Year Two Hundred, One Hundred, you have games that kill people, you have the Earth sick and polluted while the Human Race just watch television, and you have little girls strung up and hooked to wires, and made to have no kind of life at all because that's what is needed," he blinked at me, "And you're fine working with this Bad Wolf Corporation, killing humans every day? Or is it because of the money?" he swallowed heavily, "My sister died in those games, you're not high on my list of people I like,"

A woman moved forward, "We don't run the transmat or the disintegrator beams," she told me, "That's done purely automatically; we have no say over what happens in the games, only when the transmissions are broadcasted to the planet. That's the extent of our involvement,"

"That doesn't excuse you," I snapped at her, "You still work for a company that kills probably hundreds of people a day and who, might I add, still runs the games. I bet if you put your mind to it, you could probably destroy all the robots that kill people in these games, you could get rid of all the equipment, but you didn't, so don't say that you're not involved with it all," I turned back to the Doctor, "So what did you want to see about the transmissions?"

"Well you're right about that," we both turned to look at the man again, eyebrows raised, "I mean with the Gamestation, there's something going on here. There's been a lot of unauthorised transmat beams, been going on for years," now that was interesting. We hadn't been the only people that had been brought here for some reason. But we had probably been the only people that had gotten out of here.

"Hey!" I looked over to that annoying woman again, who was staring at Jack who had placed his hand in an imprint, "You're not allowed in there. Archive 6 is out of bounds," Jack just looked at her as if she was stupid, before showing her his guns. He then went through the open door, and the woman looked back to us, "Look if you're not holding us hostage then open the door and let us out. The staff are terrified," she glared at us, "It's not our fault, we're just doing our jobs,"

"And with that sentence, you've just lost the right to talk to me," the Doctor snapped at her, "So back off!" the woman jerked back at the anger in his voice, as did Lynda. I didn't react to his voice as I usually did, I was far too pissed off with the woman to really care, "Right you..." the Doctor pointed to the man, "Show me these transmissions,"

The power suddenly all died, even the lights, and I stared around seeing that there was nothing working. Not the lights or the computers screens or even the imprints of the hands that granted access to the doors, "That's just the solar flares," the man told us, "They interfere with the broadcast signal, so this place automatically powers down. Planet Earth gets a few repeats. It's all quite normal. Nothing to worry about,"

"Doctor?" I frowned at the new voice, looking around, "Doctor?" No one was speaking, not the staff that were still huddled together, nor the Doctor or me, "Doctor, where's the Doctor?" I turned around before seeing the woman wired up speak softly, "Doctor," I tapped the Doctor's shoulder who turned to look at me. I merely pointed at the woman, "Is the Doctor there?"

"I'm here," the Doctor said to her, "What do you want with me?"

"Can't see, I'm blind," she said to us, and I folded my arms, looking up at her, "So blind. All my life, blind. All I can see is numbers, but I saw you," "The solar-flares hiding me. They can't hear me, my masters, they always listen but they can't hear me now," just looking at her made me feel so sad. She was trying to do what she could. Living a life filled with nothing but numbers, "The sun... the sun is so bright..." she breathed, "My masters wired my head, their name is forbidden. They control my thoughts, my masters... my masters," I really didn't like the sound of whatever her masters were; "I had to be careful. They monitor the transmissions but they don't watch the programmes. I could hide you inside the games. Everyone else that came with you didn't matter; I had to get you here,"

"My sister died in one of those games," I said to her, "So don't you tell me that we didn't matter. She mattered to us, and your games took her and dissolved her into dust. Don't you dare tell me that she never mattered in your game here. Who are your masters?"

"They've been hiding," she told us, "My masters, hiding in the dark space, watching and shaping the Earth... so, so, so many years... they've always been there. Guiding humanity, hundreds and hundreds of years," I swallowed, hearing what she was saying, "They wait. They plan and grow in numbers, they're strong now. So strong, my masters," she suddenly looked down at us, and I took an involuntary step backwards. She might have been human but her life had consisted of numbers like she had said, so everything about her was a little spooky, "But they speak of you. My masters, they fear the Doctor,"

"Who are they?" the Doctor insisted, "Tell me, who are they?" suddenly the woman gasped violently, clearly in pain and the lights suddenly flickered back on. He turned to the man behind us, "When's the next solar flare?" he demanded to know.

"Two years' time," he answered and the Doctor sighed in frustration. That wasn't very good either way you looked at it.

Jack came waltzing through the door, "I found the TARDIS," he announced, seemingly in a good mood. I didn't know why, everything seemed to be crumbling down around us. Anyway, we weren't leaving, "And I found something out," he sat in the chair, "The TARDIS worked it out, you're going to want to watch this," he looked over to the blonde girl who was standing next to the computers, "Lynda, could you stand over there for me please? It'll only take a second. Could you stand in that spot, quick as you can?" she quickly went to do what he told her. I leant against a chair, watching what Jack was going, "Everybody watching? Ok, three, two, one..." he suddenly pressed a button and we watched as Lynda was disintegrated before us.

The Doctor stared at Jack in horror, "But you killed her!" he told him, "Why did you do that, you killed her!"

Jack grinned at us and I just felt bewildered at his attitude. Why was he so damn happy? "Oh, do you think?" he asked us cheekily before pressing another button and suddenly Lynda reappeared next to us again. I stared at her, seeing that she was completely fine, and a sudden spark of hope burned through me, "It's a transmat beam," Jack explained, "Not a disintegrator, a secondary transmat system," that spark burned into a fire through me, because if it wasn't a disintegrator beam then that meant that, "People don't get killed in the games!" Jack continued, "They get transported across space! Doctor, Alice, Rose is still alive!"

And a huge smile broke through my face, feeling suddenly completely alive. My sister was still alive, she wasn't dead, and there was everything to live for now, because now we could do something, we could go and find her. I hugged Jack tightly, and he laughed at that, "So that beam, it's sent her somewhere into space?" he nodded, "Which means that she's somewhere, somewhere where we can find her, and rescue her," I looked at the Doctor who was rapidly typing on the console, "Can we do that?"

He nodded, and the woman suddenly cried out, her back arching with the pain, "Doctor, five point six point one," she started reeling off numbers which I suddenly knew were coordinates. She was helping us find wherever Rose had gone. Except the solar flare had passed and whoever her masters were, they could hear her now, "Point four three four," she screamed with pain, "No my masters, no! I defy you! Stigma seven seven..." she suddenly shrieked before disappearing into dust. The transmat beam had taken her to wherever it took everyone.

"They took her," the Doctor said quietly, and we all looked at the empty hanging wires where the woman used to hang, "And we just need two more coordinates to find wherever 'her masters' took her," he sat down at the desk, looking at the screen, "Is there any way to find the last two numbers?"

"Err..." the same man moved forward, "Use this, I kept a log of all the unscheduled transmission," the Doctor took it off him, already scanning it in, "So are you saying that this whole space station is a set up?" he asked us, "It's been a disguise?"

The Doctor looked grim, and I sat in the chair next to him watching him work, "Going all the way back to installing the Jagrafess two hundred years ago," he looked at me, "Do you remember?" I did remember, "The Editor there said that he represented a load of banks, but someone was right behind that as well. Playing a long game, and controlling the Human Race from right behind the scenes for generations,"

He clicked a device and I stared at the screen that appeared, "I don't know about you, Doctor," I said slowly, "But that doesn't really look like anywhere. If Rose was beamed right there by the transmat, then she's already dead because there's no air in space,"

"No," he disagreed, "Because it only looks like nothing, because that's what this satellite does. Underneath the transmission, right on the edge of the solar system, there's another signal. Hiding whatever is out there. There is something sitting right on top of Planet Earth but it's completely invisible," he started tapping buttons, "Now if I cancel the signal," there was a blip on the screen and suddenly there was something on the screen.

It was a flying saucer, like the ones that you always think of when you think of a spaceship when you're a child. Round and spinning in mid-air, and looking absolutely lethal. I turned to look at the Doctor who was staring at it in horror. Something told me that whatever was on board that spaceship, it wasn't going to be exactly accommodating to us, "That's impossible," Jack was the one that spoke, "I know those ships, they were destroyed,"

"Obviously they survived," the Doctor said calmly, and that, I think scared me most of all. He didn't shout or show any signs of fear, but just by saying that in that very calm way, it made everything seem a whole lot worse. I looked back at the screen seeing it pull out to show not just one flying saucer, but hundreds. We were completely outnumbered no matter who it was, "There are two hundred ships there, with more than two thousand on board. That just makes about half a million of them,"

"Who?" I asked quietly, wanting to know what he was so scared of, "Doctor, who are they?"

He looked at me, "Daleks," he answered and I felt like I had been plunged into an icy cold lake. Daleks, but they had been destroyed, they were gone, we saw the last of the Daleks die by suicide months ago. There hadn't been any left, the Doctor said that there weren't any left, "We're going to get Rose back," he said, and I nodded, firmly. Even if there were Daleks, there was nothing that would stop us from getting her back, even if we had to kick half a million pepper pots down the stairs, we were going to get her back.

A screen suddenly opened up and I stared at the sight of Rose, surrounded by three Daleks. My sister alive, and almost back from the dead, "We will only talk to the Doctor," it said and the Doctor waved grimly back at them, "The Dalek Stratagem is nearing completion. The Fleet is almost ready. You will not intervene," I snorted at that, not bloody likely, "We have your associate, you will obey or she will be exterminated!"

"No," the Doctor said calmly, and the rest of our ragtag group looked at him, "No, that's not going to happen, because here's what I'm going to do. We're going to rescue her from the middle of the Dalek Fleet, and then we're going to save the Earth, and then just to finish off, I'm personally going to wipe every last stinking Dalek outta the sky!" he grinned at them, "That's what I'm going to do,"

"But you have no weapons! No defences! No plan!" the Dalek cried at us furiously.

"Yeah," the Doctor nodded, "Because I don't need any of them, I've got two sisters that won't stop for anything to try and save each other and if that doesn't that scare you to death then it really, really should,"

"Rose!" I called out, and she looked at me, "We're coming to get you," I promised.

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**And so we come to the last episode of Series 1, and with the end of Christopher Eccleston on the horizon. What will happen in the next few chapters. Because believe me. It's going to change everything.**

**:)**

**_Next Time_**

**_It was dark...and it was cold, and there was no way out._**

**_..._**

_**"But you don't make that decision for me, Doctor. You can't make that choice for me,"**_

_**...**_

_**"They mean me,"**_

_**...**_

_**"I can see you Doctor, that tiny little box flying through all of space and time. You are so lonely."**_


	62. Parting of the Ways: Part 1

**Ahh here we are. Hope everyone had a very good Christmas, and didn't end up exploding which is what I nearly did. You eat far too much food at Christmas, and then some more, but then I love Christmas.**

**how did everyone like the Christmas special...no don't tell me! I haven't seen it yet, because my brother insists on watching it all together and he's not here. Hope it was good. The trailer looked good, and I know Ian Mckellen was in it so it ought to have been good. I need to see it.**

**thank you all to that reviewed, which is...The Hidden Timelady, skidney, sailormajinmoon, Shaybo27, DragonRose4, Ryn of Magic, and grapejuice101. I swear some of you have reviewed so many times that my computer now recommends your names if I have a typo. :)**

**Still onwards.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

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The Parting of the Ways: Part 1

"Right, into the TARDIS, now," the Doctor ordered Jack and me, "If we're going to get Rose then we're going to have to do it now, before they get a chance to do something," I hurried after Jack as he opened Archive Six, "Come on, both of you," I saw him look back at the staff, "Get everyone out of here, Lynda, that means you as well. You need to evacuate this whole building, make sure that the transmat doesn't send anyone else right into the heart of that Dalek Fleet, do you hear me?" I quickly walked inside the TARDIS, the Doctor following swiftly behind me, "Right, now that we know where the transmat beam was taking all those people, I know where to go now," he slammed down a level, "We can follow it,"

"Get right to Rose," I finished for him, nodding with grim determination, "All right," I looked at him, calmly, "Tell me what to do then, you're going to need all the help you can get to rescue Rose in this chaos. What do you want us both to do? Because neither of us are going to let you just walk into the middle of that Dalek Fleet or Stratagem or whatever they were talking about without us. We're all going and you have to tell us what to do so we can get her back," Jack nodded firmly, and the Doctor looked at me calmly, "So tell us what to do,"

The Doctor gave one firm nod, "Very well, Jack, check the extrapolator make sure that it's at the top of it's power, if it isn't get it working," Jack ran over to the surfboard, "Mary-Anne, pull that lever there, and hold it down," I did as he asked, "Now reach over to those green buttons, press the first and the forth until I tell you, and then you change to the second and third. Have you got that?" I agreed, "Right...here we go then," he slammed down another lever and the TARDIS hurtled into flight, and I struggled to hold the level down as we rocketed about. "Right change the buttons, Mary-Anne," I quickly did as he told me and the console spat sparks at us.

"Doctor...we've got incoming!" Jack shouted over the noise of the console, and I saw him staring at the screen, "Two missiles heading this way," he hit the extrapolator and it beeped above the noise, "Let's hope that this works then, Doc,"

I wondered why he was grinning, "But we don't have any defences against missiles!" I shouted at him, from where I was holding the lever and buttons, "We're going to get ripped apart by those missiles if we don't do something," he merely grinned wider, "What are you smiling for?!" the TARDIS was suddenly knocked violently as, what I presumed were the missiles, smashed into us. However we weren't blown to pieces as I had expected we would be, "What the hell was that?" I asked the two men, "Why aren't we dead? Not that I don't mind being alive,"

"The extrapolator," Jack explained, holding up the circuit board, "I've hacked into it and connected it to the TARDIS which means we've got a fully functioning force field that almost nothing can get through into here. The missiles knocked us about a bit but we're fine other than that," he grinned, "Try saying that when you're drunk,"

"And for my next trick," the Doctor added slamming the levers all down, "Mary-Anne that blue lever there, you can let go of the other ones now," I reached over to the other lever and pulled it down, "Right, we're going to be landing right in the middle of the Dalek Fleet and I know exactly where I am going to land so you both better get behind me. Jack have that gun ready," I moved behind the pillar and the Doctor pressed a button. I had seen the TARDIS materialise before but right in the empty space near the door there seemed to be something materialising inside the TARDIS. I backed away when I saw that it was a Dalek and Rose, "Get down!" he shouted to her and Jack blasted his gun at the Dalek which exploded violently.

I stared at the remains of the Dalek seeing the creature that had been inside it before running over to Rose and hugging her tightly, "Ahh, you did it," she grinned at us, "Feels like I haven't seen you in years," she hugged the Doctor as well, "Never doubted that you'd come and get me,"

"Don't I get a hug?" Jack asked and Rose held out her arms to him, "I was talking to him," he pointed at the Doctor. Rose just laughed, hugging him as well, "Welcome home, you were very lucky," he held up the gun, "I was a one shot wonder. Drained the gun of all its power supply. It's just a piece of junk now,"

Rose turned to the Doctor and I leant against the railings, "But Doctor, it's the Daleks," she said to him, "I thought you said that they were extinct. We saw the last one blow itself up, so how come they're all still alive and outside? And there's thousands of them,"

"And they disappeared way back in history," Jack pointed out, "After the Tenth Dalek Occupation, they just vanished. One minute they were the greatest threat in the whole universe and the next minute they vanished out of space and time. Where did they all go?"

The Doctor looked grim, "They just went to fight a bigger war," he explained, "The Time War, I was there. The War between the Daleks and the Time Lords, with the whole of creation at stake," I listened to what he told us about the the Time War with numbed silence. He hadn't ever talked this openly about the Time War before. Desperate times called for desperate measures, "You think you've seen war, Jack?" he addressed the other man, "You've seen nothing. Two battle fleets, millions of ships burning and screaming. My people died but they took the Daleks with them," He sighed heavily, "I almost thought it was worth it, and now it turns out they died for nothing. The Daleks survived,"

"But Doctor, Rose said that there are thousands of them," I said quietly and he turned to look at me, "Last time, we couldn't stop one of them, it had to blow itself up before it stopped. How can we fight an entire Dalek Fleet? There are three of us, what are we going to do?"

The Doctor gave a big smile, "Well there's no point standing here chinwagging," he said, grinning widely, the complete opposite to what he had been just a couple of moments ago, "Human Race, you'd gossip all day. The Daleks have all the answers," he rubbed his hands in glee, "Let's go and meet the neighbours,"

He walked towards the door, "You can't go out there!" Rose shouted, "They'll kill you," we all quickly ran after him to see the Daleks firing at the TARDIS. I flinched back as their lasers shot towards us but they seemed to be stopped by what I assumed was the forcefield Jack had talked about earlier.

The Doctor raised his hands at them as if he was disappointed, "Is that it?" he asked them, "Useless, nul point," he seemed to be enjoying himself at the Daleks' helplessness. He looked at Rose, Jack and I all hovering around the edge of the TARDIS not willing to get into the line of fire, "It's all right, come on out," he told us, "That forcefield can hold back anything,"

"Almost everything," Jack inputted.

The Doctor looked at him, "Yes, but I wasn't going to tell them that, thanks," he said and Jack made an apologetic face to him. The Doctor moved forward looking at the three Daleks that seemed to star stupidly at him, "Do you know what they call me in the ancient legends of the Dalek Homeworld?" he asked them coldly, "The Oncoming Storm," a chill spread through my entire body when he said that. The Oncoming Storm, more than just a name perhaps, "You might have removed all your emotions but I reckon, right down in your DNA, there's one little spark left. And that's fear," the Daleks just stared at him, "Doesn't it just burn when you're facing me?" he folded him arms, glaring at the metal monsters in front of us, "So tell me, how did you survive the Time War?"

"They survived through me," a growl erupted from the darkness by us and we turned to look out as the light turned on. It was a Dalek, but huge, with legs like a crab, and yet distinctly Dalek. A clear tube dropped down below the swivelling head, a purple creature in the liquid, a healthier version of what was inside Van Statten's Dalek.

The Doctor seemed transfixed by the giant Dalek moving forward to stare up at it, whatever it was. Head Dalek or something. The Dalek Boss also seemed rather likely as well, "Mary-Anne, Rose, Captain," he said to us, "This is the Emperor of the Daleks," to be fair, I hadn't expected him to say Emperor, as in head of an Empire. It seemed a little too personal to be a part of the Daleks, rather human for there to be an Emperor. Controller, I could understand, but Emperor. I hadn't thought that it had been on the cards.

"You destroyed us, Doctor," the Emperor annouced, and its voice was far deeper than the other, normal Daleks, "The Dalek race died in your inferno," I looked at the Doctor seeing him freeze in anger at what it was saying, "But my ship survived, falling through time. Crippled but alive,"

"Oh I get it-" the Doctor started to say.

"Do not interrupt!" one of the Daleks behind us said and I flinched back as they shouted at us, "Do not interrupt, do not interrupt!" it was weird, like they were somehow offended that the Doctor had interrupted the Emperor in its spiel about the Time War. But that was insane, wasn't it?

The Doctor didn't bother to turn around, "I think you're forgetting something," he said calmly, "I'm the Doctor, and if there's one thing that I can do, it's talk," he looked angrier than ever, "I've got five billion languages and you haven't got one way of stopping me, so if anyone's going to shut up...it's you!" he shouted the last word at the Daleks who all scooted back at the sound of his raised voice. He always seemed scarier when he shouted, probably because he didn't do it ever so much, at least not in anger. The Doctor cleared his throat, turning back to the Emperor, "Okey doke, so where were we?" he asked the Emperor.

"We waited here in the dark space," the Emperor told us, "Damaged but rebuilding. Centuries passed and we quietly infiltrated the systems of Earth. Harvesting the waste of humanity. The prisoners, the refugees, the dispossessed, they all came to us," I looked around the large Dalek ship seeing the many Daleks floating around. How were we going to be able to kill all of them? "The Human Race was happy to look away. The bodies were filleted, pulped, sifted," I felt my stomach churn at what he was saying and placed a hand to my mouth, willing myself not to be sick, "The seed of humanity was perverted, only one cell in a billion was fit to be nurtured,"

"If they created an army of Daleks out of the dead," Rose said to the Doctor quietly, "Doesn't that make them...well..." she looked back at the creatures behind us, staring at us with their unblinking blue stare, "Half human...yes?"

"Those words are blasphemy!" the Emperor shouted in anger and the Daleks all around us shouted at us to desist in our blasphemy, "Everything human has been purged. I cultivated pure and blessed Dalek," I looked at the Doctor's face which was slightly slack in horror, staring at the Daleks as if he had never seen them before, "Since I led them from the wilderness, I am far more than Emperor. I reached into the dirt and made new life. I am the God of all Daleks!" That actually sounded just a little bit more pompous than the title Emperor, "The beginning and end of all things!"

Now the Daleks all chanted at us as one, demanding that we worship the Emperor as God, "They're insane," the Doctor said to us, "Hiding in silence for hundreds of years, that's enough to end anyone mad, but it's worse than that," he moved forward looking at the ordinary Daleks, "They're driven mad by their own flesh. The stink of humanity," he looked pityingly at them, "Oh you hate your own existence," he turned to look at us, "And that, really, makes them more deadly than ever," I moved forward taking his hand and he squeezed it hard. I didn't need to say anything, "Come on," he looked up at the Emperor, "We're going,"

"You may not leave my presence!" the God of all Daleks shouted at us and we moved swiftly into the TARDIS, "Doctor, stay where you are, else you will be exterminated," I saw the Doctor wave cheerily at the Daleks as they tried to fire at the TARDIS before shutting the door on them. However he didn't move from the door as he shut it, and I was hesitant in going to him even though I wanted to. He was in that state of mind where any thought that would be of any comfort was merely detracting from the problem at hand.

Which was an army of insane Daleks.

Oh, goody.

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**So how did it do? Hope people likes it.**

**Should be back quicker now that Christmas is over and not so many commitments. Hope that everyone's last week of this year goes well.**

**:)**


	63. Parting of the Ways: Part 2

** Ahh, so here we are with the**** next chapter and this part of the story is almost over which actually feels really weird but I suppose I can live with it. And I've ready written quite a bit of the next Series up so I'm very happy about that.**

**And I've finally seen the Christmas episode! Well I wasn't expected that whole thing with Clara, and it's going to be very interesting writing about that...when I finally get there. I will get to there...New Years Resolution and everything :-D**

**A big shout out to those that have reviewed as well, Skidney, Shaybo27, grapejuice101, sailormajinmoon, and DragonRose4. I loved reading every single word that you all wrote, and reviews always make me happy. Shaybo27 and DragonRose4, your reviews were lovely. Sailormajinmoon and grapejuice101, I think you've been there from the beginning and you've both really helped me gain inspiration for this story.**

**Oh...and a Happy New Year nearly.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

* * *

The Parting of the Ways: Part 2

The Doctor was by that door for about a moment and a half longer before running to the console hitting levers and buttons like he was on fire. It would have made me smile if not for the situation outside the doors, back where thousands of insane Daleks were probably assembled to assess the situation and proceed in their plan to kill all of us here. This didn't seem like a situation that we could get out of so easily as we had been able to do previously. I wasn't scared of a Dalek as a creature, but I was petrified about what they could do. And they were obviously mixed up with this Bad Wolf business. And in my opinion that didn't reassure me in anyway.

I jumped violently as a hand descended on my shoulder, and I turned quickly around to see Rose standing near me, "Are you all right?" she asked me, and I merely looked back at the Doctor, "Right," she leant on the railings next to me, "That was a stupid question. We're going to be surrounded by hundreds of Daleks, that will kill us without a moment's thought and I'm asking whether you are all right. Of course you're not all right," she placed an arm around my shoulder, "But we'll get out of this, you know. We always do, we always win,"

"Maybe," I answered her slowly, "Maybe not, I mean this Bad Wolf thing is clearly here. Playing around with us here. I couldn't see it in Cardiff," I turned to look at her directly, "But you could, and so could the Doctor, but I didn't notice it until we landed right here. Whatever the Bad Wolf is, it likes playing around with us. Which makes me worried about what else it is going to do. The very fact it is named 'Bad Wolf' puts my teeth on edge,"

"Or it might just be a name," I gave her a sceptical look and she nodded, "No, you're right, there is something wrong with this whole situation. Not least Daleks mining humans for flesh," I felt my previous nausea rising again, and swallowed heavily, "I feel ill," I nodded in agreement with her, "Possible alien threat, clear notice of impending death..." the previous chill from earlier ran down my spine at her words, "It's like every other day with the Doctor," I tried to smile but failed. She turned me around to face her, "You and me will be absolutely fine," she promised, "We always have each other's back," I only nodded at that, "You came to save me in the middle of a Dalek Fleet. You know that I'd always do the same for you,"

I smiled slightly through my fingers, "That's what I am worried about," I admitted to her, "Whatever Bad Wolf is it wants all of us. And if it's a warning or something malevolent then it will want us dead. And the easiest way to do that is to separate all of us. We've already done that once today. I don't want it to happen again. Ever," she drew me into a hug and I sighed, needing the comfort, "I don't want anything to happen to you like this again. So next time try not to get in a room with a killer robot with the voice of Anne Robinson,"

She swatted me playfully, "That wasn't my fault," she admonished me, "Where did you end up in?" I stuck my hands in my pockets, not wanting to tell her where exactly I had ended up, "Which game were you in, Alice? I promise I won't laugh at you,"

I relented, "Strictly Come Dancing," I told her and she immediately snorted with laughter, "You said you wouldn't laugh!" she covered her mouth trying to hide her giggles, "I didn't actually ever get to do any dancing, I'll have you know. I escaped before then," she was still laughing at me, "I can't believe you," I folded my arms, "It's really not that funny," I looked ahead as she nodded, resting next to me, "I tried to get someone out..." I rubbed my eyes hurriedly, "But...that game," I took a long breath in, the mood instantly growing serious, "Well they don't have happy endings, do they? The Daleks only spared you because you knew the Doctor. My friend would have been killed by them and a Dalek would have been grown from his flesh and it makes me sick every time I think about it because he should have lived, and if I had been that little bit quicker then we could have gotten him out. But I dawdled, I didn't know that they would do that to him,"

"Did you love him?" that comment was greeted with a shake of my head. No, I hadn't loved John-Joe, I had only known him for the maximum of an hour. I had hardly known him, "Aside from the reason for saving as many people as possible, why him? Why does this resonate with you so much?"

"Because I liked him," I informed her, "I liked the possibility of him, if that makes sense," she frowned, before gesturing over to the Doctor, who was still flying the TARDIS, "He was a normal average man, normal life, family, job..." I trailed off, looking at her intently, "I love this life so much. Flying around, saving worlds and people, I love it, I will always love it. But that means that I will never have that other life, the life that everyone else on Earth has. Neither of us will have that so long as we're in the TARDIS," I shrugged, "And the man that I met in the Games was so normal. I wouldn't give this up ever, but there was a second where I wondered about that other life,"

"You won't leave the Doctor," it was a statement.

I smiled genuinely at that, before leaning closer to her, "Never ever," I stated, just as the TARDIS landed in what I presumed to be the Gamestation, "I never want to leave here, this place, the Doctor, Time and Space. It's home to me now...not the Powell Estate, not Earth, but this tiny little blue box. I love..." I looked down at my feet, knowing that I couldn't tell Rose that, "And you know that all of us will be absolutely fantastic," I turned to look at the door, "We better get out there, we don't want to miss anything that might say what our plan is about the Daleks,"

"You and me," she nodded, "Growing up on the Powell Estate, we never thought that we would end up all the way out here in the middle of a battle for our lives, did we?" I shook my head, swallowing down the tears in my throat. We hugged each other tightly, "Whatever happens we'll always be there watching each other's backs, yeah?" I nodded into her jacket, "Rose and Alice," she pulled back to look at me, "Now let's go kick some Daleks all the way to hell," she walked out of the TARDIS to where the Doctor and Jack had gone.

I turned to look around the TARDIS, empty for once, there being nobody in there to run around the console apart from me. It was eerie, it being this quiet and I sighed, before looking involuntarily up and seeing the man in the mirror. For once I didn't need him to be right there, not when all of this was going on and I swiftly turned my back on him, knowing that he had probably disappeared before walking out of the TARDIS and shutting the door firmly. There was so much happening right now with Bad Wolf and the Daleks that if anything else happened or appeared then I would be more inclined to shoot them.

The Doctor was talking at the speed of light when I finally walked over to the small group huddled around the computers in front of where the Controller had been. Rose looked at me in slight concern but I shook my head minutely to tell her not to ask about it. I listened to what the Doctor was talking about, "...planet's just sitting there defenceless," he finished just as I paid attention. He turned to look at Lynda with a Y, "Lynda, what are you doing on board?" he turned to the programmers, "I told you to evacuate everyone!"

"I didn't want to go," she said and Rose caught my eye, before nodding slightly to Lynda sitting in the chair, in confusion. I merely stuck my hands in my pockets not wanting to have that conversation, "I didn't want to leave you,"

The woman who had annoyed me so much when we were talking about responsibility for the games leant over to look at the computers, "There weren't enough shuttles anyway or I wouldn't be here," she informed us bluntly. Well that was a nice sentiment, we were trying to fight an alien invasion and she wanted to run off...I couldn't really blame her if I was honest, "But we've got a hundred people stranded on Floor Zero with nowhere to go, and no shuttles to take them anywhere,"

"Never mind that now, we've got a far larger problem than a few people wanting their money," the Doctor said, "We've got at least two hundred Dalek ships on the other side of the solar system and that is probably the most dangerous threat in the whole of history at this moment. We need..." he ran over to the panel, "We need..."

"Sorry to interrupt," the male programmer said, looking over at him from where he was sitting on a computer, "But I thought you should know that the Fleet is moving," everyone in the room stared at him, "They're on their way over here,"

"That's fine," the Doctor said pulling things out of the panels, wires and objects, "That was to be expected, but I've got an idea," he chucked a large metal tube on the floor, "The Dalek Plan, it's got a big mistake, because what have they left with me?" he looked over at us, filled with the idea of a plan, "Anyone?" we all looked confused at him, "Anyone? Come on, it's obvious," now he was pulling wires out of the sides, "It's a great big transmitter, this entire station," it wasn't obvious to me, "Oh come on, catch up! If I can change the signal, fold it back and sequence it? Anyone?"

"You've got to be kidding," I looked over at Jack who seemed to know what the hell the Doctor was on about. He was staring at the Doctor who grinned at him, "Are you talking about a Delta Wave?" the Doctor laughed triumphantly at Jack's answer.

"What's a Delta Wave?" Rose asked for the rest of us.

Jack cleared his throat, "It's a wave of Van Cassadyne Energy," he explained to us, "It fries your brain," well that was rather a very good bonus for us, "If you stand in the way of a Delta Wave, your head gets barbecued, and this station is powerful enough to produce one huge wave which could wipe out all the Daleks,"

I opened my mouth to tell the Doctor that he better get a move on then, when, "Well get started and do it then!" Lynda said from behind me and I closed my mouth with a snap. It wasn't that I didn't like Lynda or anything, she was sweet, but...still. I decided to keep my mouth shut on that particular subject. There were more important things to be thinking of.

The Doctor grinned, "The trouble is, a wave that size and building it this big, and with my brain, it should take around..." he furrowed his brow, calculating the time it would take, "About three days," he looked at the male programmer, "How long will it take for the Fleet to get here?"

The man looked at the screen, "Twenty two minutes," he answered and the Doctor immediately started to rip out wires frantically, before grinning at us manically. This had better work.

Jack was busy looping the extrapolator to the computers, and hit the top of the screen in triumph, "Ha, done it," he said to us, "Now let us have a look," he fiddled around on the computer, before bringing up a picture of the satellite, "We've now got a forcefield so they can't blast us out of the sky," he gestured to the picture, "But it doesn't stop the Daleks from physically invading, now they've probably worked out the Delta Wave in the same time, so they'll want to stop the Doctor. Now they have to get to here, Floor Five Hundred. Now I can concentrate the extrapolator around the top six floors. 500 down to 495, so they'll penetrate the station below that at Floor 494 and fight their way up. And they'll be fighting us, the guards had bastic bullets, they can rip a Dalek wide open,"

"There's six of us," the female programmer said bluntly.

"Mary-Anne, Rose, can you help me?" the Doctor asked, "I need all of these wires stripped bare," I looked at the remaining people before walking over to the Doctor who handed me a bundle of wires, "We need it all completely stripped," I nodded pulling off my coat, placing it over a computer before the plastic off the metal as quickly as I could, "Rose, I need you to pull out of the wires from those two vents," my sister immediately went over to sort out what he asked, "With any luck we can get this finished before the Daleks get over here. We can completely wipe them out, before they do any damage to the Earth,"

The group by the computer walked over to where we were, "I just want to say thanks, I suppose," Lynda said to the Doctor who smiled at her. Rose looked over to me, and I kept my head down, focussing on the wire that I was trying to strip, "And I'll do my best,"

"Me too," the Doctor grinned at her, and they shook hands, the tension unbelievably awkward, "I guess I'll see you later," she smiled up at him and I ripped off the plastic covering with probably a little too much force, "See you around, Lynda," she nodded before walking after the others.

Jack walked up to the three of us, "So," he smiled sadly at all of us, "Anyway, this has been fun, but I guess this is it, this is goodbye," I looked down at the floor before looking up at him, swallowing back the tears, "And might I say Rose," he looked at my sister, "You are worth fighting for," he kissed Rose softly, before turning to the Doctor, "I wish that I'd never met you, Doctor. I was much better off as a coward," I smiled with amusement when he kissed him before turning to me, "And I'll guess that I'll see you around Miss Mary," I tilted my head, and he hugged me tightly, "Suppose this is it,"

"This isn't the end," I replied, as he let me go, "For both of us, we'll see each other again," he only smiled, not commenting, "Hey, we will see each other again, I promise," he merely nodded, "You'll be fine," however that statement felt slightly hollow, and yet I was sure that I would see Jack again after today.

Jack looked at me, "See you in hell," he told me before walking past us to the lift. I stood still, his words repeating inside my head. See you in hell. I so dearly hoped not. Not that...most certainly not that at all. Not for me or for him, and yet there was...

"He'll be fine," Rose said and I returned to stripping the wires with renewed ferocity, "He's going to be all right," she looked at the Doctor who was busy with the Delta Wave, "Isn't he?" there was no answer from the Doctor, and I knew he was pointedly not answering her.

See you in hell.

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**And so we descend downwards into this story as it really takes off properly, and it really is quite a tragic story anyway with a lot of goodbyes. I'm actually quite going to miss writing the Ninth Doctor.**

**Next chapter is a very pivotal one that I'm quite excited to be putting up but also quite nervous because I don't know how people will like it.**

**Keep those smiley faces coming.**

**:)**


	64. Parting of the Ways: Part 3

**I've written over this chapter several times and I'm still not completely happy with it so I decided to publish it anyway. :) Hope everyone's doing all right and thank you once again for all the lovely reviews that people have left. It was lovely to hear what you all think.**

**Disclaimer:Not Mine**

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The Parting of the Ways: Part 3

"Suppose..." Rose said out loud before falling silent. It had been around five minutes since Jack and the rest of the staff with Lynda had gone down the lift to try and stop the Daleks invading the station and reaching the Doctor who was putting together the Delta Wave, "You know what, never mind," she told us, and the Doctor looked at her interested. None of us had spoken to each other in the time that we had spent rewiring Floor 500, "Only..." she started up again, "I was thinking, and I mean, obviously you can't but you've got a time machine. Why can't you just go back to last week and warn them?"

"As soon as the TARDIS lands in that second, I become part of events," he said to her, buzzing away with the sonic screwdriver, "I'm stuck in the timeline, and can't cross it," Rose nodded understanding what he was saying, and going back to the pile of wires at her feet, "There's another thing that the TARDIS could do. It could take us all away. We could leave," he looked at me and I stared back at him, the wire in my hand forgotten, "We could let history take its course, and we can go to Marbella 1989. You could ask for me to do that," I smiled at him, "It never crossed your mind, did it?"

I put down the wire stripper, before folding my arms, "You would never leave," I told him sure of the answer, "You couldn't leave. Not when history is like this and all in a mess. And with the Earth down there not doing anything. You wouldn't leave when all this is happening. Besides, we'll get out of this mess, we always do, you know that," he didn't answer me, and I took a deep breath in, "And besides, neither one of us would make you leave here when this is all happening, not ever," I grinned, "We're just too good,"

He grinned at me, opening his mouth to speak when a whirring started around us. I looked around, "It's the Delta Wave," the Doctor explained to us, "It's starting to build and when it's at the right level of power then we can detonate it and wipe all the Daleks out," he rushed over to a computer, "Now how long do we have until we can do it?"

I looked over to the computer, not understanding the equations that were scrolling on the screen, "Is that bad?" Rose asked the Doctor who hadn't said anything. He didn't reply to her, "Doctor, is that bad?" he placed his head in his hands, and I winced, resting a hand on his shoulder, knowing that it must be bad for the Doctor to look so defeated, "Ok, it's bad. How bad is it?"

"I'm not going to do it," the Doctor mumbled, "It's going to take too long for the power to build up to the right levels and I don't have the time to do it properly," he kicked the computers, "Stupid thing, and I can't do it," he stopped suddenly, "Unless," the imagined light bulb above his head had clearly decided to switch itself on, "I could use the TARDIS," he told us, "Both of you Tylers are geniuses. We can do it," I was slightly confused, didn't he just say that he couldn't use the TARDIS, "If I use the TARDIS to cross my own timeline, make sure that there are things in place to make sure the power increases more then we can do it. Yes!"

"You think you could do it?" I asked him, and he ran into the TARDIS all of us following him, "Save everyone?" he nodded, typing rapidly on the TARDIS keyboard, "Sign both of us to help then, what do you want both of us to do in this great idea?"

"Rose, I need you to hold this lever down and keep its position," the Doctor told my sister, who quickly complied, "That will cancel the buffers. Mary-Anne, I want you to hold these buttons down," I did so, "They'll channel the energy to the TARDIS. And if I'm very clever, and I'm more than clever, I'm brilliant!" I grinned widely at his excitement, "Well, I might just save the world, or rip it apart,"

"I'd go for the first one," Rose said to him.

"Me too," he answered, "Now I just need to power up the Gamestation," he flipped some more levers around the console, "Won't be a minute, just need to go and do something extremely clever. I'll be back in a minute," he waltzed out of the TARDIS.

I realised that I hadn't got my phone on me, or my coat which had my diary and fog watch in it. Damn. I really needed that, I promised that I wouldn't let it out of my sight, and now it was. "Rose can you reach these buttons?" she nodded, "I've forgotten my phone on the Gamestation, I really won't be a minute," she leaned across to press the buttons, "I'll be back soon," I promised, running towards the door, opening it to step out. There was a sudden lurch and I fell to the ground outside, shutting the door behind me. I stood up quickly, turning around to see the TARDIS disappear before my eyes. I rushed forward, reaching for the door again, but it had already gone, vanishing completely. Rose was gone. I turned around seeing the Doctor behind me, with his screwdriver outstretched, frozen, staring at me, "What have you done?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded, lowering the sonic screwdriver, walking up to me, "You are supposed to be on the TARDIS, safe. What have you done?!" I stared at him, not comprehending what he was talking about for a moment, "I told you to hold down those two buttons, I needed you to do that for me, to make sure that you were safe,"

I shook my head, still not understanding what he was saying, "What have I done?" I questioned, "What the hell have you done?!" I looked back to where the TARDIS and Rose were supposed to be, "Where's the TARDIS? Where's Rose?" I turned to him, registering that he had asked something else, "Rose is holding down those two buttons because I forgot my coat which has my diary in it, and your watch," I picked up my coat, "Where is Rose, Doctor?"

"Home," he said to me, suddenly looking ten years older, "I activated Emergency Protocol One, it takes the occupants home with no way back," he was speaking but the words didn't seem to be getting through to me, "Emergency Protocol One means that there is no chance..." he swallowed heavily, "That we are facing an enemy that we should never let the TARDIS to fall into their hands. I sent it back to the Powell Estate to take you both home, so you would be safe from the invasion of Daleks. I promised Jackie that I would keep you both safe,"

"You sent Rose home," I swallowed heavily, nodding and understanding what he was saying, "But you don't make that decision for me, Doctor. You can't make that choice for me,"

"You're eighteen, Mary-Anne," he said, "You shouldn't be here; you should be at home, eating chips and living a life without death and destruction. Not in a station that's about to be invaded by several thousand Daleks. You should be where Rose is now, safe and at home with your family. Not facing this when you haven't lived fully,"

"I made my choice," I told him honestly, my arms limp by my sides, "I'm not going leave you," I looked at him, feeling an empty feeling in my chest, "I am never gonna leave, Doctor. You're stuck with me. Forever if needs be, whether you like it or not. Now that you've sent the TARDIS away with no chance of it coming back, I suppose it's set in stone, isn't it? Rose can't get here and I can't get there, so we're stuck on that front," I stepped towards him, "You must have known that I wouldn't ever leave willingly. You had to trick us both, didn't you?"

"You don't deserve to die here," he only said, "Not you, not here,"

I laughed at that, a tear trickling down my face, "You don't decide that, Doctor," I informed him, before looking down, "Does dying hurt?" his head snapped up towards me, and I waved a hand, trying to backtrack, "You don't have to answer that, you don't need to answer that, Doctor, you don't need to answer that for me,"

"Why do you think that I know how it is to die?" he asked me, and I looked away from him, focussing on the wall, "Mary-Anne..." I ignored his question, making sure that I didn't answer him, "Mary-Anne, tell me, how did you know that?"

I looked up at him, "Do you remember Gwyneth?" I said to him, "She knew so much about me, that I would be protected by the Bad Wolf," I smiled humourlessly, "Sometimes, in my head, I can just..." I looked down, "It's nothing, just...a feeling," I sighed, leaning against the computer desk, completely drained and feeling so tired, "But you saved her...you saved Rose from being here and dying with the rest of us if that comes to be the case. Even if I'm here and she never forgives you or me, even though it's not my fault. Thank you, at least for that,"

"I wanted you safe from everything," he told me, "Safe from harm, there is no way that we can get out of this. The Daleks are coming and we don't have enough time until they invade the station," I looked at him, "You should have stayed there with her,"

"Well perhaps if you told me that you were going to do this then I wouldn't have left," I teased him slightly and then shook my head, "I left my phone out here by accident and I came back just to get it. It wasn't by any design that I am here on purpose, sometimes things just happen and we can't explain it in any other way," I took his hand, squeezing it softly, "There comes a time when one has to do something for the right reasons. I am here because of an accident, but I wouldn't rather be anywhere else. I'm only human,"

He smiled sadly at me, "And that will always be the problem," he answered me and I frowned, "So human, you can't but help walking into the flames for something that you believe is right. You would walk right into the midst of a battle if it was for someone that you cared about, wouldn't you?" I nodded, "So how can you blame me for wanting to keep you out of harm's way?"

I shook my head, "I can't, Doctor, I can't...but the truth is that I am here in the middle of this battle without my sister, without my mother or Mickey. But you and Jack are here, and I know that everything will be...all right in the end," but at those words, I couldn't help but feel the familiar sinking feeling that had accompanied me all through this day. That something was going to happen, although I hadn't a clue at the moment what it would be. I smiled brightly, pushing past the feeling, "So what do you need doing?"

He grinned back, even though I could detect a current of worry running through him, "Well I still need the rest of the wires stripped," he told me and I nodded, already going to where the loose wires and wire-strippers were, "And we better hurry, we don't want to be caught in the crossfire,"

* * *

Ten minutes later and I had nearly stripped all the wires that he had asked me to do. The Doctor was busy with the main implement and he was rattling around it like he had no tomorrow, which we probably didn't have right at this very moment, "It's funny," I told him while tugging at the plastic, gritting my teeth as it refused to budge properly, "Everything's going to change with this, I mean properly this time. How exactly are we going to get out of this?"

"The Delta Wave should knock out all of the Daleks," he replied, and I smiled sadly at him, "You don't seem too happy at that. They're Daleks, scourge of the universe. We're doing the whole of reality a favour in getting rid of them forever, never coming back. The Time War goes back to the way it was before I knew they were here, and I was left alone again,"

I fiddled with the wire stripper, "You're not alone, Doctor, you do know that," he didn't say anything, "I'm here and Jack's here and there are people willing to fight for you...die for you and this machine that you're making..." he sighed, "Why don't you believe that what I say isn't the truth? It's my truth, and I think that it's Jack's truth as well," I pulled the plastic off the wire that I was holding in one hand, "You make people better than what they were, Doctor. Rose, Jack, me, all us little people. It's our truth concerning you. The man who makes people better,"

He hesitated for a second, "I don't make everything better, Mary-Anne, just look around you to see my damage," he said, "We came to this satellite and we turned it upside down from what we did. Now thousands of people are dead because I never look back and see the consequences of what I have done. I took you from your home and returned you a year later never thinking about what your family must have gone through," he leant against the siding of the computers, gripping the edge of the desk, "I am dangerous,"

"So is crossing the road," I quipped, but his expression didn't change, "You tried to send me home Doctor, and I didn't go, even though it was an accident. At least you tried, and even though I'm not happy at the fact that you tried to do it, you attempted to send Rose and me home," I held up the wire that I was holding, "No one can argue that you didn't, not even Mum," I caught his look, "What did I say?"

"Everything," he folded his arms, "Everything I needed to hear at the very least. What made you so sure in me when you first met me? You took my hand and you ran, all the way back in that basement. Most people would have run the opposite way but you didn't...Why?"

I looked away, "Your eyes," I whispered, before clearing my throat, "Your eyes were kind," I answered clearly, "And I was sure that you weren't going to lead us anywhere to our deaths. Not there. You got us out of there," I took a deep breath in, gripping the wires tightly, so they felt like they were cutting into my skin, and let out the air, "Sometimes I'm right about things, and somehow in the basement where I used to work, you were there to make sure we were safe. You weren't there to hurt either Rose or I, and I trusted you in that. I can't exactly explain it. It doesn't really make sense to me sometimes, but you got us out even though you didn't have to. And for that all I can do is thank you,"

"Your instincts are the most powerful things that protect you," he answered, "If you're seeing more than you should then...that's interesting. Maybe something in your timeline is rippling back onto you," he looked at me speculatively, "Like when you kept seeing the TARDIS, nobody notices my TARDIS, it's designed to not be noticed, but you saw it. You picked the lock,"

"She let me," I smiled, "She's something different...like from a fairy tale," I focused on the wiring, "All my life there are moments where I feel so out of step with everyone. Like I've forgotten something and it's in the back of my mind," I tapped my temple, before hesitating finally admitting to what I had been seeing, "I've been seeing a man,"

"I'm making an effort not to be extremely insulted,"

I laughed shortly, "Not like that, you idiot," I grinned at him, for a second, "It's just in the mirror sometimes...there's always a man standing right behind me," I let out a breath, "He doesn't say anything, doesn't do anything except watch me carefully, but as soon as I turn around, he's gone," I looked around the cavernous room, "It was here the first time I saw him...Satellite Five, something about this place gives me the creeps," ice crept into my stomach, "And not just about that man, it's like someone is dancing over my grave, and I don't like it, not one bit. Something's going to happen and I feel like this is just the calm before the storm and soon everything is going to change and there is nothing that you nor I can do about it,"

"Hey," he pulled me up, "Nothing is going to happen to you while I am here," he informed me, and I looked at him pointedly, "All right, there are half a million Daleks about to descend on this station and we need to try and solve this problem. Whoever you're seeing around the place, I don't know who he is, but everything will turn out to be all right," I pressed my lips together, "You doubt it?"

I shook my head, "No," I whispered, "I don't doubt you, you'll be fine," he drew me into a hug, and I buried my face into his shoulder, not wanting it to end.

"Don't worry," he whispered in my ear, "Everything will work out to be all right in the end," I nodded but I couldn't help but still feel very cold inside.

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**Hmm, so what do people think?**

**:)**


	65. Parting of the Ways: Part 4

**Thank you all so much for the support for the last chapter. You seemed to like it, and I'm glad for that. Still another chapter to go so it's a little nervewracking. But then I suppose there is still a long way to**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine**

**Oh, and please don't kill me.**

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The Parting of the Ways: Part 4

_"Rose, I've called up internal laser codes,"_ Jack's voice echoed on the screen, "_There should be a different number on every screen, can you read them out to me?"_ the Doctor and I looked at each other before going back to our work, _"Rose? Can you do that for me?"_

I sighed, "She's not here," I informed him curtly, before looking over onto the screens, "And it's five, twenty six, seventeen, thirty eight, and fifty nine," I passed the Doctor a wire, "We don't have much time to sit around at the moment, the Daleks will get here any second and they'll have a very fun time in trying to wipe all of us out of the sky," I stood up, looking at him, "How much time do you think you will be able to give us? We need to get this Delta Wave up and running as soon as possible. How much time do we have?"

_"You should have enough time if there are three of you,"_ Jack shrugged and I looked away, "_You sent her home, didn't you?"_ I didn't say anything, "_Why are you still here then? I would have thought the Doctor would have gotten you out by now, especially if Rose has also gone back home. She wouldn't have left without you,"_

The Doctor was still fixing the Delta Wave, "I didn't want her to stay here," he answered with a snap, "She got out of the TARDIS before I sent it off. She's trapped here like we are," I glared slightly at the Doctor, I certainly didn't consider me being here as being trapped, not at any rate, and he knew that. Seems like he was still being difficult about the whole thing again, "So just get back to work," I rolled my eyes at Jack, "Hand me the sonic, Mary-Anne" I passed it to him, "Thank you,"

I gave Jack a pointed look and he got the point, _"The Delta Wave,"_ he changed the subject, "_Is it ever going to be ready?"_ I saw a rather bleak look from the Doctor, and frowned slightly at that. Was there something that he hadn't told us?

"_Tell him the truth, Doctor,"_ the gravelly voice of the Dalek Emperor sounded throughout the room, as another screen expanded to show the Dalek himself, "_There is every possibility that the Delta Wave could be completed, but no possibility of refining it..."_ I turned to the Doctor, confusion on my face, What exactly did that mean? But the Dalek beat him to explain it, _"The Delta Wave must kill everything in its path, with no distinction between human and Dalek,"_ I let out a breath when I understood it, _"All things must die, but your hand. You would destroy Daleks and humans together...if I am God, the creator of all things, then what does that make you, Doctor?"_

"_Doctor..." _Jack spoke up hesitantly, _"The range of this transmitter covers the entire Earth,"_

The Doctor chose to direct his words to the Emperor, "There are colonies out there, the human race would survive in some shape or form, but you're the only Daleks in existence," I saw him close his eyes, "The whole universe is in danger if I let you live," He turned to look at Jack on the screen, "Do you see now Jack?" he demanded of the other man, almost imploring, "That's the choice I've got to make for every living thing. Die as a human or live as a Dalek?" he turned to look at me, "What would you choose?" he implored me, "What would you choose right now? Humanity dead or...what would happen afterwards? How can you?"

I looked at Jack on the screen, and he met my eyes. I nodded once, and his mouth twitched into a smile. He knew what I was thinking, knew what I thought about everything to do with this, _"You sent Rose home,"_ he told the Doctor, "_She's safe...now keep working,"_ the Dalek Emperor spluttered in anger, "_We've never doubted him, and we never will. And Rose would say the same,"_ the Doctor grinned, _"I better get back to buying you more time. Good luck, both of you,"_ he disappeared from the screen, and I watched the Doctor as he turned his attention to the Dalek.

"Now," the Doctor moved towards the screen, "You tell me, God of All Daleks," he sneered the name at the purple wizened creature, "Because there is something that I never worked out," he folded his arms, "The words: Bad Wolf, spread across the whole of space and time. Everywhere drawing me in. How did you manage that?" the Dalek God was silent, "We've seen those words throughout the whole of time, little things but always there, always searching for us. I'd like to know exactly how exactly managed to do that when you're stuck here in this time,"

_"I did nothing,"_ the Dalek Emperor growled out and the Doctor looked sceptical at the creature in from of him, _"They are not part of my design,"_ the Doctor turned to look at me, and I glanced up at the words that were written right above us in bold. Bad Wolf, if this wasn't to do with the Daleks then what could it possibly be?_ "This is the truth of God," _I nodded once, not really believing him but prepared to let it drop for now. We only had a short time till they arrived.

The screen fizzled out, and the Doctor made his way over to the Delta Wave, "Do you see now?" he demanded, and I looked at him calmly, "Why I tried to get you and Rose safely home?" I didn't answer him, "There's no way out of this. Even if we do this in time, even if the Delta Wave works and is up and running...effective, I can't make it effect only to the Dalek, it will include us as well,"

"I know," I answered, breathing in, "I know what it will effect, and I know that it's not going to be good," I sighed, "I think I knew the moment that we all arrived here. That we were all going to die here," he frowned, "You said we couldn't escape this, and at least we'll wipe out all of the Daleks, nothing left of them," he nodded once, "Don't blame yourself...I wouldn't have forgiven myself I was with Mum, leaving you and Jack here...that's not fair. It's a cop-out. And I wouldn't have known what would had happened to you...living life without ever knowing is much worse than ever really dying. There might even be something on the other side for me,"

"Maybe for all of us," he said, before looking at his work, "But there is a chance that we might survive this...get rid of all of the Daleks in the universe, but at the cost of the rest of the world...I can't see a third door to this," I picked up a wire that I had stripped before handing it over to him. He looked down at it, before holding it up, "We destroy the Daleks," I bent my head in agreement, "We save the universe, and we let go,"

"Sounds good to me," I agreed, and took his hand in mine, "What is the next thing that we have to do, Doctor?" he nodded, determined now, "We finish this here," I pushed aside my own misgivings and focussed on everything that he said.

"Right..." he bent down to it, "Hand me the sonic screwdriver," I slapped it into his palm and we set off working around the equipment that would hopefully help get rid of all of the Daleks in the entire universe. And silently to myself, I spoke a small prayer to whoever was listening that we would be able to do it in time, because all I knew was that I was running out of time, and the little that I had was rapidly slipping through my fingers. This Satellite would become our grave, that I was sure on. But then we were all born to die.

_"Right,"_ fifteen minutes later I could hear Jack's voice over the P.A. talking to Lynda, but there seemed hardly any time to concentrate on anything for any length of time as the Doctor and I rattled around the Delta Wave, the Doctor instructing me on everything that he needed done, "_Lynda, you are my eyes and ears. When the Daleks get in, you can follow it on this screen,"_ there was a metallic tapping on the other end, "_And then report it to me,"_

Jack, from what I had gathered, had assembled a team from the staff and volunteers from the Games that had been left on the Satellite now that all the shuttles had gotten away. He was doing what he had said, tried to buy us enough time, by trying to physically stop the Daleks from getting above to stop the Delta Wave. But then there was that little voice in my head, telling me what had happened when that Dalek in Van Statten's museum could withstand when it was at full power. And there were been millions of those Daleks right here, not just one lone one.

But now he was instructing Lynda in what she had to do, "_Now they'll detect you, but the door is made of Hydra Combination, it should be able to keep them out,"_ I suppressed a snort of derision, as I threw the Doctor another wire. Should, in my estimation, was a word that people should avoid at all costs, "_I'm sorry, but it's the best that I can do,"_ there was a crackle, "_How long till the Fleet arrives here?_" he demanded, and sighed clearly getting an answer, "_Well, this is it, ladies and gentlemen, we are at war,"_

"Mary-Anne, can you pass me the tubing?" the Doctor asked, and I picked up what I thought he meant, "No, not that thing, the yellow..." I dropped what I was holding and passed him what I thought he meant, it was the only yellow thing near me, "Such a short time in which to do this," he lamented silently.

I looked up briefly, before pulling the plastic off another couple of wires, "Don't think about that," I instructed him, "Just try and get it to the best that you can do, Jack will give us enough time in which to do this," now it was his turn to be quiet, "So in nine hundred years, where do you think has been your favourite time in which you have visited?" he looked up, "Nine hundred years and you must have a very, very good view on the universe. What's the best part?"

"You know me, I'm always looking for a quiet life," he answered swiftly and I looked at him pointedly, "Travelling...there's no favourite part for me, showing people the universe. Maybe that's my favourite part," I handed him the newly stripped wires and he quickly fixed them to the contraption that he was building.

Suddenly the whole place shuddered violently and I almost tripped over some spare wiring, "_You were right,"_ Lynda's voice echoed over the intercom, "_They're forcing the airlock on Floor 494,"_ and we were back in the world of death killing Daleks and time running out, "_The defences are offline, they've overriden the locks," _the nervousness in her voice was obvious and I stopped my hands from shaking a little. This was probably the most danger I had been in since I had been with the Doctor.

Suddenly there was the firing of bullets over the speakers and I glanced up briefly as lasers also entered the fray, and I knew I was hearing the staff and soldiers that were defending the Satellite dying and I couldn't do...we couldn't do anything to save them. I refused to meet the Doctor's eyes as this was going on and soon the sounds of the bullets stopped and I knew that everyone that had been shooting was now dead. Was this what I had become? Allowing people to sacrifice their lives to buy us just a little bit of time? But I knew that I would do just the same in a heartbeat.

"_The advance have made it to Floor 495,"_ Lynda said quietly and I knew that she probably felt the same as me in terms of the people that had just died.

"How are we doing, Jack?" I asked quietly.

"_495 should be good!"_ Jack said upbeat, _"I like 495,"_ I listened carefully when I heard Anne Robinson's voice over the intercom and then the blast of the transmat beam, "_Yes_!" Jack shouted loudly and I knew whatever he had seen, it had been good on our side, "_Ladies and gentlemen, the AnneDroid has successfully blasted tin pepperpots into the eeny weeny pieces. Lynda, what are they doing at the moment, the AnneDroid is good but it won't stop them forever,"_

The Doctor pointed to another piece of plastic and I hurried to I give it to him, _"They're flying up the ventilation shafts_," she informed us, "_No wait a minute,"_ she stuttered, "_Oh my God, they're going down!"_ I frowned, what did that mean? "_Why are they doing that?!"_ then hundreds of people started screaming over the speakers, and I flinched at the sound, hearing it. It suddenly clicked off, _"Floor Zero_," she said, "_They killed them all!"_

"This isn't them invading," I said to the Doctor who looked up briefly, "This is a massacre, the Daleks don't care what's going on with the Delta Wave, they just want to kill everything on board," he merely looked at me, "How long until this thing takes to be at maximum?"

"Couple of minutes," he replied quietly and I nodded. It was the best that any one of us could hope for, "Lynda, what's happening on Earth?" he called to the other girl.

"_The Fleet's descending,"_ she answered quietly, "_They're bombing whole continents. Europa, Pacifica..."_ I gripped the metal tightly, thinking of what was happening right down below us, all those people dead, "_The New American Alliance,"_ I had the ludicrous urge to laugh at that, but then I felt sick, what was so funny? "_Australasia's just...gone,"_ she was silent, "_They're climbing up the western duct, they should be with you in about two minutes...and I have a problem,"_ there was a pause, a silence that seemed to last a long time, "_They've found me,"_

"You should be all right, Lynda, that side is protected against meteorites," the Doctor informed her, still running around, "Like Jack said, that is Hydra combination, you should be safe in there," but he looked slightly worried at that, and didn't meet my eyes.

_"I hope so!"_ she tried to say cheerily, "_You know what they say about Earth workmanship,"_ there was a few seconds of silence on the other end and then suddenly a smashing sound came over the speakers and then screaming. I looked away from where I was staring knowing that Lynda with a Y had just died over the speakers like so many of the other people that had decided to give us a few more seconds of time.

"Did you know her well?" I asked the Doctor softly.

He shook her head, "No, I...I only met her here," he swallowed heavily, "She was sweet, Lynda with a Y, she was sweet. I promised I'd get her out," he looked over to me, "I promised I'd saved her, she shouldn't have even been here, she should have been long gone from this entire Satellite. I got her killed..."

"She chose to be here," I told him, "Like everyone else, we chose to be here, to help you do this," he didn't say anything, "Doctor, you're so close to finishing this..." I stepped forward, picking up the sonic, "Let's just finish this whole thing and be done with everything here," he sighed and then nodded, taking his screwdriver from me, and whirring it in place. I looked at the speakers, "Jack, how are you hanging in there? How long do we have?"

_"Last man standing!"_ he shouted over a spray of bullets, and I bounced on my toes, worried for him, "_For God's sake, finish that thing and kill them!" _I turned back to the Doctor who was rushing around the place, trying to get everything into place, "_Doctor, you've got twenty seconds maximum!"_

"Jack just get out of there!" I called up to him, before I heard the common utterance of the Dalek, before the familiar sizzle of their lasers, "Jack?" I called out but there was no reply, "Jack?!" only silence greeted me. I slid down onto the floor. One of my best friends were dead in this insane time, "Just us left," my voice was alone on the floor, and I didn't look at the Doctor as he hurtled around. I had hoped that we would have gotten everyone out like we usually did, but I guess that sometimes things don't work out that way in the real world.

Then there was a whir, and the Doctor looked towards me, "It's ready," he announced softly and I stood up going to it, pushing past my grief, "It's done," he placed one hand on the lever, "I push this down, I activate the signal and then everything dies...hopefully not painful," he looked hesitantly at the Delta Wave, "Everything ends for all of us," there was a different noise behind us and we turned to see the Daleks glide into the room all around us, their lasers pointing at us, "You really might want to think about this," he informed them, "Because when I activate this signal, every living creatures dies,"

_"I am immortal,"_ the Dalek Emperor growled out on the screen. He really had a very strong ego complex. Was anyone truly immortal? Even if they were nine hundred years old, "_I want to see you like me. Hail the Doctor, the Great Exterminator,"_ the Doctor had his hands gripped onto the lever, ready to push down, ready to activate the lever, "_Prove yourself, Doctor...What are you? Coward or killer?"_

The Doctor looked down at the lever, his grip tightening on it, his face screwed up as he prepared to push down. I tensed instinctively, ready for the explosion that was ready to come, when suddenly he let go, before straightening up, "Coward," he said simply, "Every time," he looked at me, "What could you do?" I didn't say anything but jumped over the rubble to stand next to him, "What could you do?" he asked me, and I merely hugged him tightly, wanting to reassure him. I don't think I could have done it either, not that.

"_Mankind will be harvested because of your weakness, Doctor,"_ the Emperor announced and we broke apart stare at the screen, my hand still in the Doctor's, "_Across the whole of the Earth, the Dalek Race will emerge triumphant from the burning cities down below. You have failed mankind, and you all will be exterminated,"_

"And what about us?" the Doctor asked, "Will we become one of your angels?" I cracked a small smile at that, "Ascend on high with all the little Daleks blowing trumpets to announce us? What happens to us?"

"_You are the Heathen,"_ the Emperor said, "_You will be exterminated,"_ the Daleks all around us, shining gold and metal, turned aiming their lasers at us, "_Prepare to meet your fate, and know that I am God of All Things,"_ that still made me smile just a little bit. How interesting to think of a Dalek like that. Pepperpots running the universe.

"Maybe it's time," the Doctor only said, before letting out a sigh, "Maybe I've been walking for too long," he spread his arms, letting go of my hand, prepared to die, and I looked around at the creatures around us.

The Daleks hadn't made any move towards the Doctor,

"What are you waiting for?" he demanded of them, "You want to kill me so badly so why don't you do it?" the familiar icy feeling was back in my stomach again, spreading through my veins, turning my blood into ice water, "Why are you hesitating now?" the Doctor looked around at the Daleks stationed around us, "You never hesitate..." I looked at my hands. Hah, I was shaking, that was something new. I was actually terrified now, but I knew that there was nothing that I could do, "Well?"

This was always what we were heading for, I realised.

"Doctor..." I interrupted and he looked at me, confusion in his eyes, "They mean me," I tried to smile, but failed, "They mean me..." he stared at me, and I didn't take my eyes off him, not wanting any time to be missed in the precious few seconds that I had left in this world, "If you see Rose again, tell her that I love her so much," he didn't say anything, and I let out a long breath, thinking of Delphi, thinking of just being with him, "It's been fun, Doctor, it really has, and I think...after all this time, I think I..." I stiffened in pain as the Dalek bolt hit my back, my head arching back in agonising pain, as the world around me ceased to be, and was replaced by only darkness.

* * *

***Cautiously peeks out from behind the sofa* Think it might be safe now, although maybe not.**

**Going to be as deliberately vague as possible.**

**Tell me what you think!**

**:)**

**P.S. Although thought about changing the name of the story. If anyone has any ideas. Please tell me**


	66. Parting of the Ways: Part 5

**Is it safe to come out yet?**

**And so this is the final chapter...of this part of the story. I'll start the next story on Friday. But there'll be a teaser at the bottom for the next story. Hopefully you like the teaser. Lots of questions and I really do like the second series.**

**I'm feeling rather melancholy about ending this story although they'll always be another one to write, and I am having a blast writing that. But I suppose this is the one story where I've properly finished it. Slightly scary, but I'll get used to it. :)**

**And I hope that it meets to everyone's expectations as well. Thought about this chapter a lot and played a lot with it. But then you've probably figured out everything anyway. Should we see if you're right?**

**Oh well, here goes.**

**Disclaimer: Not Mine. Never Mine**

* * *

Parting of the Ways: Part 5

Death, I decided, was far too dark for my liking. Ever closed your eyes when you've just stared at a really bright light and you think that you can still see the imprint of the light burned onto your eyeballs? Well death was a little like that except it was a permanent state and when you opened your eyes, it was still dark and there was nothing to see for miles around. Or perhaps there wasn't miles, it was only a few metres. I couldn't tell whether it was one or the other, but this was all that was left for me. No light or trees or flowers...no Doctor.

It was dark...and it was cold, and there was no way out.

Time passed oddly in this afterlife, I honestly could not tell you whether seconds or centuries had passed since I had arrived here. It was a weightlessness within you, not the type that would relieve all of your sins and troubles that had weighed you down in life, but the type that hollowed your heart out and left you feeling naught but empty and alone. There was no feelings of joy or hope in this place only a lack of everything. Like your memories and feelings had been stored behind a glass wall and you could only view them from the other side, knowing what happened, but unable to feel anything with any emotion as you viewed it. I was a bystander on all my memories, with only flutters of memory to remember my life by.

And for being the afterlife, the whole place was extremely empty. In the time that I had been here, I hadn't met a single other person. I was left alone for the whole of eternity and there was nothing that I could do about it. I was dead or whatever this was. Because if I was being completely honest, this wasn't exactly what I was expecting death to be like. I don't mean the pearly gates or the singing angels that most people thought of. But I did have the idea that it would be like falling asleep, drifting off into the darkness, unaware of everything, dreaming of another life. Not this constant awareness of everything, unable to sleep, unable to live properly, unable to rest with this endless waking. This was not where I had wanted to end up in the end. I had wanted to live rather than dying in this endless space. Would I eventually go mad in here?

I thought back over my life that I had lived, was that all that I had left was about? I thought about Mum and Rose, and Mickey. How my Dad hadn't given up on me, oh...my Dad, that man. Was he trapped in here as well? Unable to do anything or see anyone or hear anyone. With only memories to console him into what had happened to him. I had to admit that I didn't like thinking about it for too long. The very fact that I was dead unnerved me to a certain point and I certainly didn't want to think about any of my family being in the same situation as I was. Bloody hell, I didn't even know what my family were doing right now.

I started walking in a random direction, wanting to try and find at least something, perhaps a light or a person or anything. Anything to take my mind of what was happening to me. I still had legs, I still had a mind, and I suppose I had eyes as well. I still felt humanoid, which I thought was a very good sign. But as I still walked onwards towards somewhere, there was still no sign of anything or anyone. Not even a whisper of something that didn't come from my own mouth. I could tell that this world or death could become very, very lonely.

_"So what are you going to do?" _my mind asked me as I continued on walking through the endless darkness, _"You're stuck here, in this wasteland of thought, you can't get anywhere, you can't even see anywhere and somehow you think that you'll be able to conquer the highest mountain? Grow up, Mary-Anne Tyler, you can't even seem to see a foot in front of you. You're dead, there is no saving from this,"_ I stubbornly ignored the voice, _"Come on, Alice, do you really think that you can escape this purgatory,"_

'Purgatory indicates some kind of belief," I muttered, continuing to walk through the darkness, still not having an idea to where I was, "I know that I do not believe that I can be saved in this but I know that there is at least something under my feet and I am made of at least a flesh and blood body," I rubbed my eyes, and looking up into the darkness "I'm stuck here, aren't I?"

_"Well, you are dead," _my subconscious informed me clearly, _"You can't really reverse that, now can we? Are you going to unmake death? I commend your attitude, because I can't quit recall anyone coming back from the dead before,"_ my mind flickered to the obvious answer, _"Dad was alive because Rose changed the future, and Jesus doesn't count," _I let out a breath, _"If you have anything else to add on our situation then you should say it,"_ great, I was talking to my own subconsciousness, and I had thought I hadn't gone completely insane, _"At least you don't have to worry about anything now,"_

"Apart from the fact that I'm dead," I muttered, "That's just a very small matter, isn't it?" I turned sharply around when I heard something just beyond me, "Hello?!" I called out into the darkness, "Is someone there?" There was nothing in the blackness that I could see, but there was something that I could hear, moving around me, something dark and something that I didn't want to exactly meet. I stepped back carefully, before running back the way I came, whatever was back there, it was something that I didn't want to try and meet. No matter what it was, I didn't want to stay in a place that could potentially be very dangerous for me.

Except I was dead, and there was nothing I could do about that. I was doomed to spend the rest of eternity in pitch blackness without anything to see or eat or do. I would never know what would happen to my family or Rose, or even the Doctor...the Doctor. I stopped suddenly at that, squeezing my eyes shut at that, the memories suddenly flooding back. I had forgotten about him, how long had I been down here? There was nothing I could do for the Doctor, he was stuck facing certain death, like I had done, and that I was now experiencing. Was he down here as well?

And Rose, my dear, dear sister that had been sent home to Mum and Mickey, she would never know of what had happened to me, she would live out her days in the twenty first century unaware of my death, although I suppose she would suspect of what had happened when we didn't come back for her. Maybe if the Doctor survived the Daleks he could then tell her of what happened. About the Gamestation and the way that I had died. Really the possibilities were endless, and I didn't like thinking on it if this was the be the rest of my eternity. There was so much that I could think on.

Like Mum...my Mum that I had. Would she know what happened to me? I hadn't seen her in so long, and I hadn't even seen her since we went back to the Estate a year later. I didn't count meeting her when my Dad died. There was so much that I wanted to apologise for, to beg forgiveness for what I had done. Death really did put your own previous problems into perspective, only because you couldn't do anything about it in the end while you were down here. There was nothing I could say to her, to tell her. Perhaps Rose would do it for me, she usually knew what I was going to say.

But the words that Gwyneth had said to me so long ago. That I would see the end of time, and the beginning. To fly further than my sister had ever flew, so far I had flown the same distance that Rose had, and we hadn't seen the end or the beginning at all. Had she been wrong? Had I always been destined to live out my life here without knowing anything of what was going on in the waking world. Where everyone was living.

And where I was stuck here.

Suddenly there was a prickling of pain across my skin and I bent forward in pain, as what felt like glass raking across my skin. It was excruciating, and I wondered how it was possible to be dead and still wish for the pain to stop, that death would be end of all things for me. But I was already dead and yet the pain hadn't ended for me. What was different this time? What could possibly be the reason for this continual agony? I wanted it gone. I did not want to feel like my body was being ripped open by shards of broken glass. I wanted-

I gasped violently as light entered my eyes, air flew down into my lungs and my heart started beating again. I could feel solid ground beneath my feet, and the pain that had enveloped my body was gone. I was alive once again, how I didn't know but I savoured the feel of the world once again before. I felt exactly the same that I had done, apart from the lingering feeling of emptiness that I had found in the darkness. How exactly had I been able to come back and why was I back? No other person had come back from the dead before otherwise they'd be in the history books.

"Mary-Anne?!" I looked upwards seeing the Doctor was in front of me. I looked around where I was lying down, I was still in the Gamestation with the Daleks all around us, the God of all of them still on the screen. How long had it been since I was here last? It had been days for me, weeks it had seemed like, and yet it appeared that hardly any time had past in the living world. I was old, I was young, both tired and exhilarated. Dead and alive. What did that mean for me? Why was I like that?

I stood up slowly, looking past the Doctor to see the TARDIS standing there and Rose standing in front of it. Golden light bloomed out of the doors and my sister's eyes were shining with the light that shone around her, "Rose...?" I made to move towards her but the Doctor stopped me before releasing my arm like he had been burnt, "What did she do?" I demanded of him, "I thought you had sent her home?!"

"I am the Bad Wolf," I stared at my sister, my mind going a mile a minute, "I create myself," I looked back at the Doctor before looking at my sister who smiled softly at me. What was she talking about, the Bad Wolf was a warning to us that we had seen everywhere that we had gone. It what had brought me here to die, and apparently be resurrected as well. I didn't understand any of this "I take the words," she explained to me, "And I scatter them throughout time, a message to lead myself here,"

"What is she talking about?" I demanded of the Doctor, "What the hell is she talking about? You said that you had sent her home, that she couldn't get back home or anything, so why is she here and what has she done?" the Doctor didn't say anything and I turned to look at my sister, moving forward. I briefly felt the Doctor move as I stepped, as if he didn't want me to go near Rose, "Rose, it's me," she looked at me calmly and I could see the tear markings where she had been crying, "It's Mary-Anne,"

She nodded slowly, "Yes," she agreed, and I stood in front of her, equal height, looking familiar to each other with different hair colour but she was the older and I was the younger, "Yes, I know that it is you, I know of the dark that you faced," I frowned, "And something moving in the dark...I brought you back,"

I opened my mouth to say something to her, to get her to explain everything to her, but the Doctor moved forward past me, "Rose, you've got to stop this. You've got to stop this now," she only looked at him as if she hadn't a care in the world, "You've got the whole vortex running through your head. You're going to burn," he looked down at me, "She looked into the heart of the TARDIS and now it's running through her head. And it's so painful," he turned to her, "You've got to stop this now, Rose! Before it's too late for you!"

She looked at me, suddenly looking more sane than she had ever looked before, "I want you safe," she told me, and I stared back at her, "More than anything, I want you safe. Protected from the false God," I looked a brief look back at the Dalek Emperor behind us still on the screen, "You saved me, and I will save you. From the dark and the cold, I will save you,"

_"You cannot hurt me,"_ the Dalek Emperor ground out in the familiar tones that I had missed during those dark days. Well, not missed exactly, but certainly not remembered, _"I cannot die. I am immortal!"_

Rose's eyes blared with golden light, "You are tiny," she announced proudly to him, "I can see the whole of time and space, every single atom of your existence and I divide them," she raised her hand and the Dalek behind me suddenly rose up. I stared in horror as it slowly unravelled into golden light, disappearing from sight. It was like a liquid like effect, "Everything must come to dust," she announced, and it was like my sister wasn't even here in the room anymore, she was elsewhere, "All things...and everything dies," all around us the Daleks were bursting into golden light, dying all around us, "The Time War ends,"

I turned back to the screen where the Dalek Emperor was still there, "I will not die!" he screamed at us and yet I could still see the shining golden light pouring all around him, "I cannot die!" and yet as my sister so clearly proved, he could. And I watched as the Dalek ship disappeared forever on the screen never to return back to the waking world.

I guess there was a type of resolution there. My killers had been killed themselves by my sister, I wasn't someone to argue with that for any length of time. I was just glad that they weren't going to come back any time soon. And now Rose...

I whipped around to look at Rose who was still shining with that eerie golden light, that was so strange, and yet seemed so familiar, "Right Rose, you've done it," the Doctor stood in front of her, pleading desperately to her, "You've got to stop this now. Just let go of everything and come back to the waking world,"

Rose frowned at him, clearly confused, and I moved forward again, "How can I let go of this?" she inquired, her voice sounding so at peace, never troubled by anything ever again, "I bring life..." the Doctor suddenly whirled around to look at something far away. I didn't want to see my sister like this, it wasn't her. It was like something had crawled inside and drowned my sister from the inside out. It was scary and unnerving and terribly confusing. And I had no answers.

"But this is wrong!" the Doctor insisted, his voice panicked as the time went on, "You can't control life and death!" I looked down at my hands at that. Had Rose brought me back from where I was, brought be back from death herself without a single adverse effect on me, "You can't change the way that time is supposed run. You can't bring people back from the dead without having no consequences to pay for. It doesn't work that,"

"But I can," Rose told him calmly, as if it was the easiest thing in the world, as if nothing else mattered. This was fact for her and she would not take the time to dispute to us. It was clearly so simple for her, "The sun and the moon...the day and the night," tears coursed down her face, "But why do they hurt?" she asked us.

The Doctor looked at me, "Persuade her," he told me, "You have got to persuade her to let go of this power," I stared at him, "Mary-Anne, this power will kill your sister, it will burn out her mind and kill her. You have got to help her," I moved forward, "Tell her to let it go and come back to the world again,"

I stood in front of Rose who looked calmly at me, I smiled softly back, "You came back here," I said to her and she nodded slowly, "You were sent back home to Mum and to Mickey and yet you came back to here, not knowing whether the Doctor and I were dead or going to die," she didn't say anything and we stood appraising each other carefully, "I thought I wasn't going to see you ever again and it was so dark and so cold and I thought that this was it, nothing else left for me to do or see or..." I trailed off swallowing heavily, "I don't want you to die, Rose, I want you safe, please let it go?"

"How?" She asked me sounding more human than she had done since I first woke up, "How can I get rid of this, I can see everything. All that is... all that was... all that ever could be," she swallowed, heavily, "Is this how you feel when you feel like you know something that hasn't happened yet?"

I shook my head, "No," I whispered, "No I don't think so, I don't know," I stepped closer to her, "I thought that the Bad Wolf was something dangerous only to find out that it was you all along. It's insane, but I'm glad that it was you rather than anyone else. Both of us together one last time?" She merely smiled at me, although it was a pained smile, full of heartache and misery, "Who'd have thought that we'd end up here of all places? Doesn't it drive you mad?"

"My head," she said and I nodded, "I think it's killing me,"

"I know," I replied just as softly to her, "And I am so sorry," And then I made a snap judgement and folded her into a hug, ignoring the Doctor's warning shout behind me. But this was something that I had wanted to do since I had woken up again, "I am so sorry," I whispered into her ear, "All you have to do is let it go," I felt her nod, and I look at her in the eyes, those terrible golden eyes that seemed to hold far too much for one person to stand, "Just let it go please,"

And then I don't know how it happened but she seemed to breathe out and the light seemed to leave her eyes. And then suddenly I stiffened as my mind exploded into golden arcs, and a hot burning flame. I quickly caught Rose as she fell towards the ground, pressing a hand to her neck. She was still alive, but it only seems to be a passing thought in the million that bubbled up within my mind, swimming at alarming rate. It was an incredible experience to live through, and I could see why Rose had been so unwilling to give it up. The possibilities at my fingertips were endless, and I could see everything in the entire universe simultaneously.

"Mary-Anne?" I heard the Doctor's voice behind me, and I turned slowly around to look at him, "Now you need to let this go. You've saved your sister, now it's your turn,"

I smiled, "There is so much, Doctor," I answered him, my mind still in a golden haze, such a contrast from the dark that I had been in, "So much to see, to do and to explore. I can see why you never ever stay still long enough to breathe properly. The universe and all of time to see and find. Your home lost in fire, millions of them screaming...Do you run fast enough to not hear them? Travelling all alone in that tiny blue box running from everything. You're so lonely,"

He walked up closer to me, "This power will kill you," he insisted, and I tilted my head to look up at him, "It will wash through your mind and burn it from the inside out. Don't get lost in the light," he placed his hands on either side of my head, "Don't lose yourself,"

"Is that what you tell yourself?" I inquired of him and he stepped back, "I can see you Doctor, that tiny little box flying through all of space and time. And you can see it, everything that is running through my head, you can see it," I shuddered as pain lanced through my body, "And yet I can still see that man," I looked behind the Doctor, seeing the familiar face, "And he's getting clearer, like frost melting from a window, and I can see him," I straightened up sharply, "I died today, and then Rose brought me back, what does that make me? I don't ever want to go back to sleep again,"

"You can't stay like this," he informed, "It's not right, and it hurts. It's what I see all the time, and doesn't it hurt?" I closed my eyes, tilting my head back and feeling the golden light swirl around my head faster and hotter. A tear slipped out of the corner of my eye, and I nodded, understanding his reasoning for this, "Come here," I opened my eyes, and stepped closer to him, "Nothing's going to happen to you while I'm here. I promise,"

He leant towards me, kissing me softly on my lips. I looked into his eyes and I felt the golden light leaving my mind, disappearing and leaving only a faint golden haze in its place. The Doctor drew back and I saw this time that he now had golden eyes. I staggered a little, feeling drained with the wish to go to sleep. He caught me easily, and I stared up at him, trusting him completely. After my stint with death, I wanted to live life to the full, feel what I wanted to feel, and love who I wanted to love. No avoiding my emotions.

The Doctor turned towards the TARDIS, and let out a long sigh, as if stretching. Golden light flew into the TARDIS and the glow slowly dimmed. He turned towards me and I saw that his eyes were back to the same. He held out his hand towards me, and I took it hesitantly, standing up slowly, "It's over now," he answered my unasked question and I nodded once, "Everything back to normal," he looked over his shoulder, "Let's get Rose into the TARDIS, everything should be back to normal here as well,"

We walked over to where Rose was lying on the ground sleeping quietly, "She saved all of us," I spoke quietly, "She was trapped at home, but somehow she managed to make it all the way back here to save us. I'm not going to forget that," I bent down next to her, brushing her hair back, "I don't know what I'd be without her. Don't know what type of person I'd be. Not who I am today, that's for sure,"

"You're sisters," the Doctor merely said, "Grew up together, lived together, and laughed together. There's a much stronger bond between you than most people have with their siblings. Just don't lose hold of it and you both will be absolutely fine," I only nodded, "She was the Bad Wolf,"

"Bad Wolf," I echoed softly, "My death and my life. The Daleks ended it and she gave it back. How can anything in the world have that much power, Doctor? Bring someone back to life like that," the Doctor didn't say anything and I sighed, before placing Rose's arm around my shoulders and lifting her up. The Doctor took her other arm and we managed to manoeuvre her into the TARDIS, the doors closing behind us.

We laid the sleeping Rose down on the ground and the Doctor immediately set the TARDIS in flight, "She should wake up any minute now," he told me, "All the power has gone back inside the TARDIS. All cleared out of her head. She'll be as right as rain when she wakes up. Not a thing wrong with her,"

As if on cue, Rose immediately stirred, shaking her head. I smiled down at her, "Hello," I said to her, and she sat upwards, "Back to the real world, then," she stared up at me, "Everything's fine now, we're in the TARDIS, and we're all safe. Nothing is going to happen to us now, everything's good now," I stood up, resting against one of the pillars, watching her carefully, "Do you remember what happened at Satellite Five, Rose?"

"What happened?" she asked me and I shared a look with the Doctor. So she didn't remember anything from Satellite Five and the Daleks, with her and the Bad Wolf. Coming back to save all of us so far away, "It's like... there was this singing…" she frowned and rubbed her head. Maybe she did remember more than she thought she had, "I was at home... no, I wasn't," she corrected herself, still looking relatively unsure as to where she was and how she got there, "I was in the TARDIS, and…" she looked up at me, "I can't remember anything else..."

"Don't you remember?" the Doctor asked her, and I walked over to the seating area around the console, clutching my hands together, "You were right! I sang a song and the Daleks ran away," I gave him a pointed look and he shook his head a little, giving an indicator as not to tell Rose what really happened within the TARDIS and what she had done. He suddenly had a very poignant look on his face, "Oh Rose and Mary-Anne Tyler," he let out a long breath, "I was going to take you to so many places," he informed us calmly, "Barcelona - not the city Barcelona, the planet, Barcelona," I smiled, "You'd both love it. Fantastic place, they've got dogs with no noses," he let out a laugh, "Imagine how many times a day you end up telling that joke, and it's stillfunny!"

"Then, why can't we go?" I inquired, leaning back against the cushions of the seat, "Why not this very minute?"

He shrugged, "Maybe you will. And maybe I will. But not like this," he smiled vacantly, staring at the TARDIS screen, "And I know I'm not making any sense, although I might never make sense again! I might have two heads. Or no head!" he was rambling now with a very strained smile on his face as if he was trying to make up for lost time. But we had all the time in the world now, everything was good now. We were safe, "Imagine me with no head!And don't say that's an improvement..." he trailed off, looking at me intently, "But it's a bit dodgy, this process. You never know what you're going to end up with…" he was thrown back with pain appearing to lance through him. Rose and I immediately rushed forward but his raised a hand to stop us, "Stay back!" he let out a shuddering breath, "I absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex," he explained in a low voice, "And no one's meant to do that!" he was strangely calm, "Every cell in my body's dying,"

"Can't you do something?" Rose demanded of him, "Can you stop it?"

"Yeah, I'm doing it now!" the Doctor said cheerily to us, "Time Lords have this little trick, it's... sort of a way of cheating death. Except..." he sighed, as if resigning himself to something, "It means I'm going to change," I didn't understand what he was talking about, "And I'm not going see you again," he told me, "Not like this. Not with this daft old face," he laughed but it was a rather hollow sound and I couldn't help but feel a choking feeling making t's way up my throat, "And before I go..." I opened my mouth to try and interrupt him but he merely looked at me in just a simple way, "Mary-Anne..." I closed it again and merely nodded, "But before I go, I just wanted to tell you that you were fantastic," he smiled and looked at Rose, "Both of you were absolutely fantastic," he beamed at us, "And do you know what?" I shook my head, "So was I,"

And then the Doctor exploded with light. Red-hot flames roared out of his hands and his face, licking at his skin with the fiery tongues. I immediately ran forward, but Rose managed to restrain me with a hand on my shoulder. I struggled to get her off me but her hand was tight and we both watched helplessly as the Doctor continued to burn. It was as if he had been dowsed in petrol and then set alight but his clothes and his jacket remained unharmed by the fire. It was truly unlike anything that I had seen before.

And then it all ended and I stared at the man that had been left in the Doctor's place. Because I had seen the man that now stood in front of us. It was the man from the mirror that had haunted me all throughout the time that Rose and I had travelled with the Doctor. And he was right here in front of us, standing there with a big smile on his face. I blinked rapidly at him trying to get him to disappear but it seemed like the one time where I wanted him to go away was the one time where he would stay there permanently. And the Doctor was still nowhere in sight.

"Hello!" the man said to us, still with the big smile on his face, "Okay…" he ran his tongue over his teeth as if they had some weird taste on them. Rose and I just stayed still, watching the strange man that seemed to be in the Doctor's clothing. And I still didn't understand anything that he was doing, or why he was here, "New teeth. That's weird," he looked around, stilling grinning, "So, where was I?" he asked, and then looked rather pleased with himself "Oh, that's right! Barcelona,"

What?!

End of Part One

* * *

**So...I suppose this is it. End of the first part. What did you all think.**

**I have to thank everyone that has reviewed over this whole story. You're the real heroes for this story, and you've seriously helped me, espeically when I've had hardly any inspiration and I owe you all a very big thank you. And a lot of smiley faces, I don't really have enough cookies for all of you. But yu get virtual ones. Let's hope you like the next installment.**

**And before I forget.**

**:)**

**Part Two**

**"He's the man in the mirror," I looked at Rose, "I've been seeing him for months,"**

**"Send her back," I told him, "Please...just please, if you can do anything in this world...please do this,"**

**"What the hell is she doing there?" I whirled around to the Doctor, "I thought you said that it was impossible!" he shrugged at me, "Thank you so much,"**

**"I'm Sarah Jane Smith," she offered her hand to me, "It's a pleasure to meet you,"**

**I smiled at her, ignoring her far too happy smile, "Sarah Jane who?" I inquired and she dropped the hand, her smile disappearing. I looked at the Doctor, "Why are you so happy? Has someone died?"**

**"It's my birthday,"**

**My head snapped up at that, "Wolves?" I demanded, looking around the barren landscape, searching for what they had just said, "Where's wolves?" Rose and the Doctor both turned to me, exasperated. I smiled innocently, "Werewolves?" Rose rolled her eyes, "Never underestimate the power of wolves, Rose,"**

**"Ignore it, Rose," I said to her, "It's just got inside our heads,"**

**"This one has seen the darkness," I turned towards the speaker, feeling a cold shiver run down my spine, "The one who will see the end of everything and lose everyone that she holds dear," I swallowed heavily, "The one that will stand there at the end and become the judge, jury and executioner. That is your future,"**

**And so I'll be back on Friday, after I have submitted my History essay.**

**See you in "Wandering in Wonderland".**

**:)**

**P.S. I'm also changing the name of this story so please don't get confused by it all. I got a bit bored with the current one. It was a bit dull. Thank you to Girl Twice Dead for suggesting it to me. See you all soon.**


	67. 2nd Part is Up!

**Dear everyone.**

**I would like to announce that the next installment of this series is up and is available to read. You probably all know this already, but thought I'd put it up here any way. I'll take down this post on Sunday just because everything ought to have righted itself again.**

**from**

**PenSmith433**

**:)**

**P.S. Thank you for all the reviews from last chapter, very, very kind of you. And here's several virtual cookies.**

**P.P.S It's showing in the Doctor Who category now, so should show up on yours**


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